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Cape Town - The JSE stumbled on Wednesday after six positive sessions as most sectors, barring gold stocks retreated. Resource stocks remained under pressure, regardless of a stable rand price of R13.33/$.
MTN dropped 2.51% after releasing a trading update for the first quarter ended March 31 2017. The update indicated that while revenue increased by 7.1% year on year subscriber numbers fell by 1.5% relative to the previous quarter. Revenue growth of 4.1% in South Africa was backed up by a 17.8% increase in data revenue and a 20.3% increase in digital services revenue.
The blue-chip Top 40 Index closed 0.47% lower, while the All Share Index closed 0.61% down. Platinum stocks shed 4.67%, Financials 0.80%, Resources 1.29%, and Industrials 0.19%. The gold index managed to pull off a rally and climbed 1.82%.
Construction company Group Five [JSE:GRF] announced a restructuring of its operations and will split up its engineering and construction divisions. The restructuring is attributed to the slowing construction sector and set to be concluding by the end of June. The share price of Group Five firmed 0.64% to R15.80 whilst the general Construction & Materials Index weakened 2.20%.
Crude oil prices firmed 0.50% to $50.62/bbl after preliminary data showed greater than expected fall in US crude stocks, reviving bullish sentiment about easing oversupply.
The price of Sasol [JSE:SOL] softened 0.20% after the company reported a drop of 11.74% in production volumes for the nine months ended 31 March 2017. Sasol has however implemented separate currency and oil price hedging strategies which will mitigate downside risks against a weak oil price or a firmer rand.
The price of gold slipped 0.55% to $1249 ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy update this evening.
Gold prices have been trading lower as the dollar firmed since late April, however prices fell off as investors await the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting.
The Dollar Index DXY climbed 0.17% - indicating a strengthening of the dollar against a basket of six major currencies. Gold and silver prices have cooled since late April, as geopolitical tensions have receded.
*This report is from the Trading Desk at EasyEquities, Fin24's latest content partner on equities and market moves.
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