JSE falls to five-week low

Cape Town – The JSE fell to a five-week low on Tuesday as industrial heavyweights dragged down the index.  

The rand continued to strengthen, closing at R13.47 against the greenback, amid early indications that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign to be next ANC leader was pulling ahead.

The stronger rand, however, muted any gains made by large cap dual-listed stocks, but did support financial and retail stocks. 

The All Share index fell 1.06%, matched the blue-chip Top 40, which slipped 1.25%, dragged down by a larger weighting of Naspers and Steinhoff. 

Financials emerged in the green with its overall index climbing 1.12% as Sanlam [JSE:SLM] gained 4.23% to trade at R82 and Firstrand [JSE:FSR] firming by 2.47% to trade at R58.49. 

Naspers [JSE:NPN], meanwhile, fell 3.03% to R3 475 a share, tracking the share price of Hong Kong-listed Tencent. The recent slide in the share price of Tencent accounts for majority of the move in Naspers.  

Steinhoff [JSE:SNH] dropped 9.15% to R45.65, as distressed investors traded over 33 million shares, representing three times the normal volume.  

The fall from grace was triggered by an unscheduled announcement by the company that its annual results for the year ending September – to be presented on Wednesday – would be unaudited. 

The announcement spooked investors, as the delay is not due to financial details but rather that the company’s auditors are grappling with regulatory and legal matters surrounding the company’s criminal and tax investigation in Germany.  

In the UK, Sterling is heading for its worst day in over a month, falling 0.5% to $1.3415, on uncertainty over whether Britain can open talks on post-Brexit trade with the EU.

Prime Minister Theresa May failed to clinch an agreement during a lunch in Brussels yesterday after a tentative deal with Dublin to keep EU rules in Northern Ireland angered her allies in Belfast.

Gold prices fell to $1 264 per ounce as geopolitical tensions between North Korea and the US appeared to be easing with UN chief diplomat Jeffrey Feltman travelling to Pyongyang today for rare, high-level, political talks.