Stocks trim best week since June; Richemont gains

South Africa’s main stock index is 0.2% lower as of 10:08 a.m. in Johannesburg, as banking shares take a breather from their recent rally to decline for the first day in six. The benchmark index has advanced 3.7% this week, set for the strongest performance since early June.

Global luxury retailer and market heavyweight Richemont is among the biggest contributors to this week’s gains, climbing 1.3% on Friday after a 5.9% jump in the previous session. Richemont has attracted some M&A speculation in the wake of the collapse of LVMH’s proposed acquisition of Tiffany.

  • Naspers, with a 18% weighting in the index, rises for a third day, up 1.6% to a one-week high, as the recovery in tech stocks lifts partly owned Tencent Holdings in Hong Kong.
  • Stronger rand lifts food and drug retailers by 1.5%, while general retailers advance 0.2%.
    • Bid Corp +1.8%, Shoprite Holdings +2%, Clicks Group +0.9%, Spar Group +1.1%, Dis-Chem +1.1%.
    • Foschini +0.6%, Truworths +1%, Italtile +0.6%, Massmart Holdings +0.6%.
  • Anglo American rises 0.2% after subsidiary De Beers says it sees recovery in diamond demand.
  • Gauge of mining stocks down 0.1% amid weakness in gold and platinum stocks.
    • Sub-index for gold stocks falls for the first day in three, down 1%; while platinum producers retreat 0.4%.
    • AngloGold Ashanti -1.4%, Gold Fields -1%, Sibanye Stillwater -1.5%, Harmony Gold Mining -2.3%, BHP -0.1%, Anglo American Platinum -0.2%, DRDGold -1.2%, Impala PLatinum Holdings -0.2%.
  • Index of banks stocks snaps five days of gains to fall 2.9%.
    • FirstRand -3.1%, Standard Bank Group -2.2%, Capitec Bank Holdings -2.9%, Absa -2.7%, Nedbank -3%, Investec -1.7%
  • Foreigners were net buyers of South African stocks for a second day Thursday, purchasing R1.4 billion worth of shares, according to bourse operator JSE Ltd.
© 2020 Bloomberg

Source: moneyweb.co.za