MARKET WRAP: JSE ends week down on lack of momentum after GDP shock

Economic data set to be released next week will be closely watched to see if the economy is showing signs of improvement from the first half’s weak showing. July’s retail sales data is due on Wednesday and mining production on Thursday.

A number of companies have issued guidance for higher earnings to be reported in the week, with the exception of Impala Platinum.

Consumer goods group AVI’s numbers are due on Monday, with full-year headline earnings per share (HEPS) expected to be between 6.5% and 7.5% higher. AVI gained 0.91% to R111.65 on Friday.

Next will be property group Attacq’s finals on Tuesday. It said in a recent trading statement that net asset value per share at end-June was likely to be between 20% and 25% higher. It lost 0.69% to R15.72 on Friday.

Clover said full-year HEPS are likely to show a sharp recovery of between 207.13% and 227.13% following a number of interventions. It rose 0.72% to R15.47 on Friday.

Implats and Aspen will report finals on Thursday with the former expecting a deterioration in headline losses of between 18% to 36%. Its share price was 3.5% lower at R19.02 on Friday. Aspen expects HEPS to rise by between 8% and 12% but ended Friday losing 0.97% at R267.06.

The top 40 Alsi futures index dropped 0.17% to 50,738 points. It ended the week 2.81% lower. The number of contracts traded was 21,302 from Thursday’s 23,285.