JSE starts the day firmer as the market keeps an eye on Turkey’s election

The JSE opened firmer on Thursday on mixed Asian trade after the Dow closed in the red for the seventh successive session on Wednesday.

The Turkish election at the weekend is likely to cause further volatility in emerging markets, with the rand also likely to be affected.

The market reaction to a potential Recep Tayyip Erdogan victory at the weekend is likely not to have been priced into the lira, said FXTM analyst Jameel Ahmad.

The lira falling below 5 to the dollar as a result of an Erdogan victory is something that cannot be ruled out, he said.

The dollar was at 4.7532 lira on Thursday morning. It has plummeted 25% against the greenback in 2018.

Banks and retailers on the JSE rose at the opening, joined by property stocks, while industrials firmed on a weaker rand, hitting R13.7502 to the dollar from R13.6562, before marginally recovering again.

The rand was under pressure after the South African Reserve Bank’s quarterly bulletin reflected a current-account deficit of R2.29bn in the first quarter of 2018, amounting to 4.8% of GDP from 2.9% in the previous quarter.

US markets were mixed as investors took a wait-and-see approach to the ongoing war of words between the US and China, analysts at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking said.

Asian markets swung between gains and losses with market focus remaining on the trade war, but also on the oil cartel Opec meeting in Vienna on Friday.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are closer to agreeing on an increase in production, FxPro analysts said. Brent crude slipped 0.36% to $73.9 a barrel in early-morning trade.

The Dow closed 0.17% lower. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.61% and the Hang Seng lost 1.18%.

At 10am the all share was 0.51% higher at 56,940.50 points and the top 40 added 0.64%. Banks rose 1.99%, financials 1.04%, food and drug retailers 0.83%, general retailers 0.6% and property 0.41%. The gold index dropped 1.07% and platinum 0.27%.

Kumba Iron Ore rose 1.61% to R290.60.

Gold Fields dropped 1.92% to R48.03.

FirstRand gained 2.69% to R60.59 and Barclays Africa 2.48% to R162.30.

Mr Price rebounded 1.9% to R230.07.

Brait was up 2.72% to R41.14.

Fortress B rose 2.69% to R15.29.

Naspers gained 0.59% to R3,300.