JSE inches higher despite US rout

A mild rand recovery on Tuesday helped lift retailers and banks, putting the JSE on track for its first positive close in three sessions.

The rand had weakened to about R14.50/$ overnight, but recovered slightly on Tuesday. The Dow dropped 2.32% on Monday, but Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday.

The global mood is cautious, as markets eye looming risk events this week, including US inflation data on Wednesday and Brexit negotiations.

Corporate news has also played its part in the JSE’s 5.5% fall over the past three sessions, with British American Tobacco (BAT) crashing 11% on Monday, amid news US regulators were considering banning menthol cigarettes.

At 9.50am on Tuesday BAT was up 0.39% at R557.89.

At the same time, the all share was up 0.38% to 52,459.6 points and the top 40 added 0.56%. Banks were up 1.59% and food and drug retailers 1.28%. Platinums lost 30.77%.

Platinum was up 0.77% to $846.64/oz and gold 0.21% to $1,202.71. Brent crude was 0.91% higher at $69.62 a barrel.

Sasol was up 1.08% to R476.43.

The price of brent crude slipped back below $70 a barrel overnight, amid a brief rally on Monday, following news Saudi Arabia was seeking to slash output in December.

Rising US production, however, has helped keep oil in a bear market, with oil still 17% cheaper in dollar terms compared with the start of October.

Standard Bank was up 1.59% to R172.72 and FirstRand 1.73% to R68.30.

Woolworths added 2.33% to R54.89.

MTN was up 2.47% to R81.86 and Vodacom 2.03% to R122.74.

Telkom rose 1.72% to R56.11, having earlier reported that unadjusted headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months to end-September fell 3.3% to 288c, although operating revenue grew 5.2% over the same period.

Naspers was down 0.39% to R2,640.03.

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