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Positive end to the week for the JSE

Cape Town - The JSE ended off the week positive, after most sectors stabilised from Thursday's losses. The Rand opened weaker, benefiting miners and rand hedges. 

The rand managed to claw back up 1.18% to 13.48 against the dollar, after the US dollar index came under pressure following employment data released this afternoon.

PPC [JSE:PPC] remains under pressure from short traders, with the stock falling 4.66% to R5.73.  Kumba Iron Ore [JSE:KIO] closed 4.24% down at R148.91 after a choppy trading session on the back of weak iron prices, the miner dropped to R143.02 before recovering losses.  Kumba has been under increasing pressure, with little to stop the downward momentum as the outlook for commodity prices remain weak. 

The JSE Top 40 Index closed 0.56% higher, followed by the All Share Index which traded 0.32% up.  The market was lifted by Resources which climbed 1.57%, gold miners 0.98% and industrials 0.22%.  Market weakness was seen by the General Retailers falling 1.93% and Financials slipping 0.32%.

European continue their positive momentum and were positive at the close of the JSE.  Euro markets have maintained their upward trend ahead of the French election weekend with the French CAC up 0.86%, followed by the UK FTSE 0.86%, and the German DAX 0.31%. 

Employment data released from the United States beat estimates, the Non-Farm Payroll report indicated that 211 000 new jobs were added in April, a sharp bounce back from the revised 79,000 gain in March.  It is the third month this year that the US created more than 200 000 new jobs.

The surprise increase did not make up for last month’s shortfall, and markets did not respond positively.  The US dollar remained under pressure from major currencies and the S&P 500 traded flat as investors digest the news that while corporate profits are up, growth is slowing, and they are losing to a weaker dollar in real terms.

The release shows that job creation was broad based.  Manufacturing and construction added jobs, though at a slower pace.  Leisure and hospitality added 55 000 jobs and education and health added 41 000.  Retail jobs grew 6,300 while financial activities hired 19 000.

Government payrolls increased by 17 000.  It is noted that after the Presidential Administration's federal hiring freeze, the real growth in government employment is on the state and local level.  In April the federal government lost 6 000 workers while state and local governments added 23,000.

The price of Brent Crude remained steady since yesterday, trading at $49.49/bbl at the close of the JSE. The price traded below $48.00/bbl in the morning, however Saudia Arabi’s Opec governor promptly announced that Russia is ready to join Opec in extending supply cuts to reduce a persistent oil glut.


*This report is from the Trading Desk at EasyEquities, Fin24's latest content partner on equities and market moves.

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Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
910.50
+1.5%
Palladium
1,011.50
+1.0%
Gold
2,221.35
+1.2%
Silver
24.87
+0.9%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
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