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Johannesburg - The JSE opened significantly lower on Friday, but managed to recoup some of its earlier losses to end the day flat.
Global markets were largely apprehensive on the back of the war of words between North Korea and the USA, as new fears surfaced of another possible North Korean missile launch.
Gold rebounded slightly on the back of safe-haven buying, which resulted in some of the JSE-listed gold miners finding some reprieve.
Sibanye-Stillwater [JSE:SGL] managed to close firmer as it broke a sharp downtrend that it has been on for the better part of this week. The stock closed up 0.53% at R15.52 per share. AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] firmed to close the day up 2.57%. Health care stocks Aspen [JSE:APN] and Life Healthcare [JSE:LHC], meanwhile, ended up among the top movers of the day as they closed the up 2.76% and 1.28% respectively.
Retailers were relatively firmer, with the exception of Pick n Pay [JSE:PIK] which came under significant pressure to close the day 3.99% weaker. Shoprite [JSE:SHP] and Woolworths [JSE:WHL] managed to close the day up 0.88% and 0.59% respectively.
Diversified miners BHP Billiton and Anglo American came under pressure on the back of weaker global metal prices, shedding 0.49% and 0.79% respectively.
The JSE All-Share Index eventually closed down 0.05%, while the blue chip Top-40 Index was up by 0.03%. The Resources Index shed 0.32%, while the Industrials Index was flat, ending only marginally down by 0.01%.
The Financials Index, benefitting from the firmer Rand, ended the day up 0.37%.
Gold firmed on the back of safe-haven buying, but failed to break above $1300/Oz to reach an intra-day high of $1298.79/Oz.
Despite showing signs of vulnerability earlier on, the dollar firmed which resulted in gold retracing slightly to trade at $1296.76/Oz just after the JSE closed.
While Platinum and Palladium traded mostly flat, JSE-listed miners Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] and Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] came under pressure as they closed the day down 0.52% and 1.01% respectively.
Platinum was trading at $936.28/Oz whilst Palladium was recorded at $915.80/Oz just after the JSE closed.
Brent Crude gained on the back of the news from Vienna, Austria, where OPEC ministers are meeting. News of OPEC's continued commitment to their agreed production cuts saw Brent Crude peaking to $56.87 per barrel.
Forecasts of rising demand on the back of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, meanwhile, also resulted in a bullish stance on Brent Crude over the past week. The precious liquid was trading $56.79 per barrel just after the JSE closed.
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