JSE could make it 10 in a row if it follows Asia’s lead

Asian markets were generally buoyant on Wednesday morning, indicating the JSE may enjoy its 10th trading day of gains in a row.

In Hong Kong, Naspers associate Tencent was down 0.44% to HK$363.80 but the Hang Seng index was up 0.23%.

In Sydney, BHP was up 1.2% to A$33.78, helping the ASX 200 index gain 0.43%.

The rand was trading at R14.23 to the dollar, R16.64 to the euro and R18.32 to the pound at 6.45am.

Pharmaceutical group Adcock Ingram said on August 21 it expected to report on Wednesday that headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year to end-June grew by up to 24.8%.

Murray & Roberts said on August 23 it expected to report on Wednesday an up to 81% improvement in basic HEPS for the year to end-June.

Bauba Platinum warned shareholders on August 22 it expected to report an up to 36.4% decline in HEPS for the year to end-June.

“This lower performance compared with the prior year was primarily due to a weaker chrome ore market and a delay in excess of the timeframes stipulated by legislation for the department of water and sanitation to grant an application for an amended water use licence, which resulted in no opencast production for the months of May and June.

“Bauba received the above-mentioned licence towards the end of June and has since recommenced opencast production. The result of this will be reflected in the 2019 financial year,” the trading statement said.

Other companies diarised to release results on Wednesday are property groups Growthpoint and NEPI Rockcastle, along with Grindrod Shopping and Net1 UEPS Technology.

Interbank electronic settlement company BankServAfrica releases its monthly salary index on Wednesday.

July’s average take-home pay for South Africans improved thanks to government employees getting salary increases with back pay, BankServeAfrica said on Tuesday.