MARKET WRAP: Rand ends week almost where it started after rollercoaster ride
While the rand was little changed from last week’s close, the JSE managed to eke out marginal gains on Friday, in unusually brisk trade for this time of the year.
The JSE, which averages turnover of about R20bn on a busy day, capped Friday with trades of almost R22.5bn.
The all share ended the day 0.16% higher at 51,430.4 points, with industrials rising 0.65% and resources 0.44%.
Naspers and larger diversified miners were responsible for the gains, while banks and financials felt pressure from a weaker rand — which fell from Thursday’s best level of R14.10 to the dollar, to R14.38 by the JSE’s close — and global risk-off sentiment.
Naspers issued a media release on Thursday saying it was contributing $660m of a $1bn investment into Swiggy, an Indian food delivery service. This saw Tencent, in which Naspers owns a sizeable share, rise 4% in Hong Kong trade, after it said it would be backing its parent’s investment.
On Friday, Naspers closed 2.77% higher at R2,880. The share has, however, had a tough year, after reaching a high of R4,142 in November 2017.
Anglo American added 1.22% to R313.27, its highest close in about five weeks.
The banking index fell 0.9% on the day, with financials losing a similar margin. Absa lost 1.55% to R154.57, which is roughly where it started the week.
Brent crude remains under pressure, falling a further 1.57% to $54 a barrel.
Source: businesslive.co.za
