MARKET WRAP: JSE drops ahead of US Fed interest rate decision

Shortly after the JSE closed the Dow was down 0.20% to 27,055.88 points. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was flat, while France’s CAC 40 added 0.22% and Germany’s DAX 30 0.21%. Earlier, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.25%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng  fell 0.13% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 0.18%. 

At 5.20pm, the rand had strengthened 0.39% to  R14.6408/$,  0.5% to R16.1943/€ and 0.55% to R18.2676/£. The euro was flat at $1.1061.

Gold was up 0.47% to $1,508.18/oz while platinum lost 0.58% to $934.81. Brent crude added 0.33% to $64.2 a barrel. 

The JSE all share fell 1.19% to 56,220.40 points and the top 40 1.45%. Industrials shed 2.32% and resources 0.44%. Property, however, gained 0.87%. 

Sasol dropped 1.13% to R287.71. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the company is planning to sell its SA coal mining business.

Afrimat leapt 9.7% to R32.79 after the building materials supplier said on Wednesday that it expects its headline earnings per share (HEPS) to increase by between 80% and 100%, to between 167.6c and 186.2c, in the period ended August 31.

EOH fell 0.79% to R12.60 after the company said on Wednesday it expects a headline loss per share of 973c from continuing operations in the year to end-June.

Pan African Resources lost 2.63% to R2.22. The gold miner said on Wednesday that its HEPS grew 20.2% to 1.19 US cents in the year to end-June.

Richemont slumped 5.95% to R109.44 after the company’s stock was downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” by Swiss investment bank UBS on Wednesday.

Consumer inflation accelerated to 4.3% in August from a year earlier, up from 4% in July, data from Statistics SA showed on Wednesday. That’s still below below the mid-point of the Bank’s 3% to 6% target. The consensus was for consumer inflation of 4.2%, according to a Bloomberg poll.

Retail sales grew by 2% year-on-year in July, below the Bloomberg consensus for a rise of 2.6%, and down from 2.4% in June. 

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