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JSE flat, Mr Price climbs

Johannesburg - South African stocks ended flat for a second straight session on Thursday but shares of clothing and household goods retailer Mr Price jumped after saying it expects its full-year earnings to climb.

The Johannesburg bourse wasn't moved by news that the ruling African National Congress swept toward victory in South Africa's fifth post-apartheid election, handing President Jacob Zuma the clout to push through pro-business reforms in the face of union and leftist opposition.

"The market won't be overly affected by the election result unless the result is a real surprise. It (the market) looks very strong and unlikely to go down," said Desmond Reilly, a stock broker at PSG.

The All Share index was up 0.17% to 49 026.95, while the benchmark Top-40 index was up 0.12% to 43 900.72.

Mr Price ended up 4.8% at R165.15 after saying its earnings for the year to end-March likely rose by as much as 23%.

Shares of Transaction Capital extended gains, adding 3.4% to R5.79, after the finance firm on Tuesday posted an increase in earnings, driven by double-digit growth in loans.

Other major gainers were telecommunications firm Vodacom, up 3.7% to R131.74 and lender Nedbank, which gained 3.3% to R236.

Dairy giant Clover Industries was the biggest loser on the All-share index, shedding 8.7% to R18.94 after issuing a profit warning for the full-year.

"Clover has cost pressures coming from all over, from packaging to transport, across the whole board really. That's hurt their income," Reilly said.

Also taking a hit after a trading update was transport group Barloworld Ltd, which fell 4.1% to R108.30.

Trade was active with about 210 million shares changing hands, with advancers outpacing decliners, 181 to 131.

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Rand - Dollar
18.93
+0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.89
+0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
+1.3%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
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