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Johannesburg - The major indices on the JSE pulled back slightly on Friday
morning in line with world markets, which also took a breather on the eve of the latest US growth figures.
The dollar made a comeback after losing ground earlier
in the week in reaction to a statement by the Federal Reserve indicating that
inflation in the US is under control, which could mean interest rates won't be hiked soon.
Growth figures in the US due later in the day will give
another indication as to what will happen with interest rates in the near future. A
hike in interest rates in the US will be bad news for emerging markets, as it
would make the returns in these markets less attractive.
The news that Amazon missed an earnings target hit
US technology stocks and rippled through into other markets on Friday,
with Asian stocks retreating from recent highs and European tech shares opening
sharply lower.
The rand also gave up Thursday’s strong gains. This did
not have a big effect on share prices as investors decided to take profits
after the gains of the previous few days, which saw the All-share and Top 40
indices setting new 52-week highs for three days in a row. By mid-morning the
rand was again trading at R13.05 to the dollar after reaching R12.89/$
on Thursday.
By mid-morning on Friday the All-share index was
already 0.38% softer at 54 683 points and the Top 40 index 0.42% lower at 48 367 points. The big loser was the Industrial index, as
the big dual-listed shares lost ground in line with the foreign markets where
they are also listed.
The drop in the prices of international technology stocks
also hit Naspers [JSE:NPN], the biggest share on the JSE, which shed 1.80% to R2 811.00 after trading at all-time
highs earlier in the week. Naspers’s share price is driven by the performance of Tencent, the
Chinese internet giant which is the biggest stock on the Hong Kong market.
Tencent lost 1.17% to HK$304.80. Naspers owns 34.4% of Tencent.
MTN [JSE:MTN], which lost about a tenth of its value on
Thursday on a disappointing trading update, recovered somewhat on Friday and at mid-morning was 1.10% stronger at R119.92.
The Financial index lost 0.12% and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] continued with its steady progress of the last few days. The stock was 0.23% up on yet another 52-week high of R163.50.
Barclays Africa Group [JSE:BGA] lost 1.34% to R145.14. Its former holding company Barclays reported a £1.2bn first half loss on Friday after taking a £2.5bn hit from the sale of its Africa business and calling an end to its restructuring.
The British bank said it had made a £1.4bn loss on the sale of 33% of Barclays Africa Group, and took a further £1.1bn impairment charge on the sale. Barclays now owns only 15% of Barclays Africa.
The Resources index received some support from the weaker rand and was only 0.08% softer. BHP [JSE:BIL] shed 0.61% to R230.54.
