Stronger rand boosts banks, lifts JSE
Maarten Mittner
THE JSE closed yesterday at its highest level in four weeks as a stronger rand environment boosted banks and industrials‚ which had previously been sold off following the unexpected interest rate hike at the end of last month.
In contrast to last week‚ the rand sustained its stronger levels at about R10.85 to the dollar for most of the day. The banking was index up 1.58% and industrials rose 1.25%‚ as the dollar remained around $13704 against the euro.
At 5pm SA time, the JSE all-share index closed 0.86% up at 47027.54 points‚ with the blue-chip top-40 index firming 0.92%.
All the indices‚ with the exception of platinum‚ were higher. The gold index closed 0.8% up‚ with financials 0.77% firmer. Resources rose 0.14%‚ but platinum softened 0.25%.
The Dow was closed for a US public holiday‚ but the London's FTSE 100 was up 1.14% at 5.26pm SA time. The Paris CAC40 was 0.11% lower‚ while the German Dax was 0.13% higher.
The market also received strong support from Naspers‚ which closed at a new high‚ after its Chinese subsidiary Tencent rose 4%, Imara SP Reid director Guy Algeo said. Naspers was 4.41% higher at R1273‚ and is trading at a price to earnings ratio of more than 60.
Retailers and telecommunication shares also did well‚ but rand hedge shares were mixed.
Rand hedges were mixed among individual shares‚ with Sasol closing 1.05% lower at R538 and Richemont losing 0.37% to R108.23. SABMiller gained 1.07% to R507.61‚ while British America Tobacco rose 1.79% to R562.52.
Among gold shares, Sibanye closed 3.19% up at R20.40‚ a new record high. Sibanye said yesterday as of the end of December its extractable gold mineral reserves had increased by 46% to 19.73-million ounces‚ net of 1.48-million ounces depleted from mining last year.
Bidvest shone in the industrial sector‚ closing 1.49% up at R243.01.
Barclays Africa rose 1.92% to R132.80‚ after reporting headline earnings growth of 14% last week. Standard Bank and FirstRand still have to report‚ and closed 1.43% higher to R120.66 and 1.51% up to R32.28‚ respectively.
African Bank Investments Ltd leapt 5.76% to R9.91.
Group Five gained 4.82% to R45.65 after reporting a 40.7% rise in headline earnings per share to 204c for the six months ended December from a year earlier.
Telecommunication shares were in demand after regulatory authority Icasa said it was putting its previously announced termination-rate reductions on hold
MTN closed 2.06% up at R198 with Vodacom gaining 1.98% to R120.50. – BDlive
