BHP Billiton likely to drag JSE down

Miner BHP Billiton fell 1.7% to A$32.61 in Sydney ahead of the JSE’s opening on Tuesday morning, contributing to the ASX 200 index dropping 1% to 6,282 points.

BHP raised its final dividend by 46.5% to $0.63 but that failed to meet the market’s high expectations.

In Hong Kong, Naspers’s associate Tencent was down 0.11% to HK$350.40.

Likely falls by both Naspers, the top 40’s largest constituent with a 22.45% weighting, and BHP, which ties in second place with Richemont with a 10.16% weighting, points to the JSE stumbling on Tuesday after three trading days of gains.

Shoprite, the top 40’s 15th largest constituent with a weighting of 1.61%, will release its results for the 52 weeks ended July 1 on Tuesday, according to its website.

Other retailers scheduled to release results this week include Woolworths and Massmart on Thursday.

Harmony Gold said in a trading statement on August 17 that it expected to report on Tuesday that headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year to end-June grew by up to 45%, measured in rand.

In dollars, HEPS fell by up to 45%.

Imperial, which is in the process of unbundling its vehicle dealerships into an independently listed company, Motus, said on August 3 it expected to report on Tuesday its HEPS for the year to end-June grew between 9% and 16%.

The rand strengthened overnight to trade at R14.47 to the dollar, R16.67 to the euro and R18.56 to the pound at 6.30am.