JSE gains as Asian markets recover from viral outbreak sell-off
The JSE entered its first day of gains this week as global markets recovered after China said it had put measures in place to curb the spread of a virus outbreak.
China’s National Health Commission said on Wednesday that 440 cases of the coronavirus were reported while nine people have died. It said that it has made efforts to minimise public gatherings in regions affected by the outbreak, Reuters reported.
Global equities dropped on Tuesday amid concerns that the outbreak could spiral into a global pandemic.
“We would argue the risk of an economy-crippling pandemic is a good enough reason to sell out. Travel and leisure companies, including Macau casino operators listed in Hong Kong, have been hit hardest and still look most at risk if wider markets start to seriously rollover,” said London Capital Group head of research Jasper Lawler.
Earlier, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.28%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.27%.
At 10.50am, the JSE all share added 0.27% to 58,131.7 points and the top 40 0.19%. Platinum miners were up 2.85% and the gold mining index 1.19%.
Shoprite said on Wednesday that sales from its SA supermarkets grew by 9.8% in the six months to December 29. Its share price was up 2.96% to R118.30.
Naspers has sold €1.5bn (R24bn) worth of new shares in its international internet assets subsidiary Prosus, the company said on Wednesday. Naspers was up 0.66% to R2,487 while Prosus was down 2.53% to R1,109.44.
Source: businesslive.co.za
