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Cape Town – The JSE closed weaker on Thursday as rand hedge stocks weighed down on the local bourse.
Local equities opened in the green but subsequently lost momentum as the earlier reversal seen in Asian markets filtered onto the JSE. The Japanese Nikkei broke levels last recorded in January 1992 but a big reversal ensued in their afternoon session which saw the Nikkei closing down 0.20%.
The rand had managed to strengthen slightly overnight but it eroded those gains in today’s session as the US dollar strengthened, despite US economic data showing an increase in jobless claims. The rand slid to an intra-day low of R14.30 to the US dollar, and when the JSE closed it was trading at R14.24 against the greenback.
On the JSE, Alexander Forbes [JSE:AFH] and PPC [JSE:PPC] ended the day among the biggest losers as they shed 3.33% and 5.31% respectively. Glencore [JSE:GLN] and Brait [JSE:BAT] traded under pressure to end the day 2.56% and 2.87% weaker.
Retailers and financial stocks came under pressure due to the weaker rand which resulted in Truworths [JSE:TRU] and FirstRand [JSE:FSR] closing down 1.17% and 1.23% respectively.
JSE-listed miners were buoyed by the weaker rand as well as relatively higher metal commodity prices. This saw stocks such as Kumba Iron Ore [JSE:KIO], Exxaro [JSE:EXX] and Lonmin [JSE:LON] gaining 2.57%, 2.46% and 1.99% respectively. Sasol [JSE:SOL] and Growthpoint [JSE:GRT] recorded modest gains to close the day up 0.96% and 0.73% respectively.
The JSE All-share index closed 0.36% weaker, while the Top-40 index shed 0.40%. All the major indices closed in the red which saw the Resources index closing down 1.00% while the Financials index lost 0.32%. The Industrials index lost 0.25%.
Brent Crude traded mostly flat despite the big build in US Crude Oil Inventories on Wedenesday. The commodity held on to trade at $63.76 per barrel when the JSE closed.
Gold traded firmer which saw it peak at an intra-day high of $1 288.25/oz. The precious metal held on to its gains despite the US dollar staging a comeback in the afternoon session. Gold was trading at $1 284.01/oz when the JSE closed.
Despite opening lower platinum managed to end up in the green and it was recorded at $936.81/oz when the JSE closed. Palladium had another impressive run as it peaked at $1 026.95/oz. The metal was recorded trading at $1 018.26/oz when the JSE closed.
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