MARKET WRAP: JSE tracks lower world markets, but banks continue recovery

The JSE weakened on Thursday, as currency markets failed to give a clear direction to the bourse, and as stocks with a primarily local focus faced yet another disappointing economic print.

Banks and some retail stocks pushed higher as the rand remained stable despite pressure factors, including signs the Bank of England will raise interest rates in August.

Local news was downbeat, with SA’s current account deficit printing worse than expected, in the South African Reserve Bank’s quarterly bulletin. A gauge in the bulletin reflected that household indebtedness lifted slightly in the first quarter, and while the surge in consumer confidence reported during the period was substantial, it was likely to subside materially in the second quarter, said Investec economist Lara Hodes.

Meanwhile unions at Eskom rejected a 4.7% wage offer from the power monopoly.

Asian, US and European markets were lower on the day, while many commodities were also under pressure from a sharp fall in the oil price, weighing on local miners. Oil cartel Opec, along with producer Russia, are meeting on Friday when production increases will be on the agenda. Early reports and commentary suggested an agreement was likely to be reached.

The all share closed 0.74% lower at 56,234.40 points and the top 40 also dropped 0.74%. The platinum index lost 2.45%, industrials 1.17%, the gold index 0.63%, resources 0.6%, and general retailers 0.59%. Banks rose 0.8% and food and drug retailers 0.41%.

Anglo American was down 1.25% to R299.41. British American Tobacco gained 1.56% to R693.47. Anglo American Platinum plunged 4.85% to R320.31.

Barclays Africa rose 1.97% to R161.49 and FirstRand 1.44% to R59.85. Brait jumped a further 6.87% to R42.80.

Naspers fell 2.22% to R3,207.87, ahead of the release of its results for the year to end — March on Friday.

Aveng rocketed 41.18% to 24c, after Murray & Roberts (M&R) said it had regulatory approval to proceed with its possible acquisition. M&R fell 1.45% to R17.63.

Imperial Holdings fell 1.76% to R196.16, after announcing the unbundling of its vehicle dealership division, Motus, into a separate JSE-listed company.

At 5.40pm, the Dow had fallen 0.53% to 24,527.38 points, while in Europe the DAX 30 had lost 1.35%, the CAC 40 0.97%, and the FTSE 100 0.93%.

At the same time, gold was flat at $1,267.91 an ounce, while platinum had given up 0.51% to $865.44. Brent crude was 0.68% lower at $73.69 a barrel.

The top 40 Alsi futures index slipped 0.6% to 50,448. The number of contracts traded was 12,775 from Wednesday’s 63,415, with the close-out for the second quarter having taken place earlier.