Rand holds on to gains, Naspers drags bourse lower

The rand extended gains on Tuesday from the last three sessions as a lull in global trade war fears lifted demand for emerging currencies, while market heavyweight Naspers and resources firms led stocks lower.

By 15:46 GMT the rand was 0.6% firmer at 13.34 per dollar, slightly softer than Monday’s three-week peak of 13.31.

On Friday the rand closed beneath 13.50 for the first time since June 22, a key inflection point after tumbling to a seven-month low of 14.00 as emerging markets sold off due to rising US interest rates and jitters over global growth.

Bonds were flat, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 steady at 8.670%.

On the equities market, the Top-40 index declined 0.38% to 51,795 points while the broader All-Share index shed 0.33% to 58,027 points.

Bourse heavyweight Naspers was responsible for much of the decline, falling 0.40%.

Miner Harmony Gold closed down 2.09% at R22.45 after it said an employee was fatally injured in a fall of ground incident at its Kusasalethu mine in Carletonville.

Bucking the downward trend, Hospitality Property Fund topped the gainers after it said on Monday after market close it had acquired seven casino and hotel businesses from Tsogo Sun. It surged 24.90% to 12.49.