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JSE rebounds as Putin calms Ukraine fears

Johannesburg - South African equities rebounded in afternoon trade after comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin calmed global markets and emboldened traders to pick up stocks that had been hammered in past sessions.

In a parliamentary speech, Putin said that while he approved plans to make Crimea part of his country, Russia did not want further partitioning of Ukraine.

"There was confusion in the market this morning, which was subdued later in the afternoon after his comments and the equity market rebounded," said Wilmar Buys, portfolio manager at FFO Securities.

"We see a little bit of bargain hunting on shares that had really dipped in the past couple of days."

The blue-chip Top-40 index was up 0.56% to 42 393.08 points while the All-share was up 0.52% to 47 059.19 points.

Internet and media giant Naspers [JSE:NPN] added 4.5%, the first rise in four sessions.

Naspers has been on the back foot following a sell-off in China's Tencent Holdings, of which it owns about a third. Investors punished Tencent after China's central bank ordered a halt to some mobile payment methods used by internet companies due to security concerns.

Shares of furniture seller JD Group [JSE:JDG] rocketed nearly 30% after retailer Steinhoff [JSE:SHF] alerted the market minutes before trading closed that it intended to increase its shareholding in JD to up to 98%.

Gold stocks, which are often sought in times of tension, pared recent gains. Johannesburg's gold index lost more than 3%, led by Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR], which fell more than 5%.

Activity was robust with 206 million shares changing hands, according to preliminary exchange data.

Buys said he expected volumes to pick up further on Wednesday and Thursday as institutional investors close out hedge positions on their expiry on March 20. South African markets will be closed on Friday to mark Human Rights Day.
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Rand - Dollar
18.92
+0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.87
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.1%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
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