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Cape Town - Naspers [JSE:NPN] touched a high of R3 001 per share on Wednesday, before closing at R2 993 after climbing 2.27% for the day.
The success of Naspers has driven the industrial index to a gain of 0.61%.
At the close of the session, the All-share Index gained 0.23%, while the blue-chip Top 40 gained 0.29% due to a higher weighting of Naspers. The major indices, barring the industrial index, edged lower with the gold index -0.66% down, followed by financials -0.34% and resources -0.06%.
Steinhoff [JSE:SHF] gained 1.06% and closed at R66.07 following an announcement that the group intends to separately list Steinhoff Africa Retail Limited (STAR) on the JSE by the end of September.
Inflation data for South Africa indicated that headline consumer inflation slowed to 4.6% y-o-y in July from 5.1% in June, lower than the market’s expectation of 4.7%.
The downside surprise relative to the forecast stemmed mainly from softer increases in the prices of electricity and other fuels as well as lower-than-expected water and other services prices which decelerated significantly.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up by 0.3% as increases in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities as well as miscellaneous goods and services were partially counteracted by a decline in the transport category.
Inflation
Inflation is expected to remain under the SA Reserve Bank’s 6% upper target range for the remainder of the year as a result of lower food price inflation.
The biggest threat to the inflation outlook remains the volatile rand, which might temper the extent of the moderation in inflation. The latest inflation figures as well as the outlook for inflation for the remainder of the year not only affirm the SARB’s decision to cut rates in July, but also support a view that the SARB will cut rates in September.
Gold prices inched 0.22% higher to $1 286/Oz on the back of political uncertainty surrounding the Jackson Hole central banking conference. Gold is highly sensitive to rising US interest rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar.
In the states, renewed hopes of US tax reform sparked a global rally on Wednesday, with the Dow posting its strongest performance since April, but stock futures faltered after President Donald Trump threatened a government shutdown.
At a rally in Arizona, Trump said he was prepared for the move if Congress didn't present him with a spending bill for the next fiscal year that included funding for a border wall.
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