Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The JSE closed firmer on Monday as it was buoyed by rand hedge stocks, which jumped on the back of the weaker rand, according to Musa Makoni, trading specialist at EasyEquities.
The rand weakened against the dollar, following the trend in other emerging market currencies, which also lost some ground relative to the greenback. The rand weakened to intra-day lows of R13.20 against the dollar, and when the JSE closed it was recorded at R13.19/$.
This resulted in a positive trading session for most of the rand hedges with the exception of British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] which traded under pressure following Friday’s collapse.
Diversified miners Anglo American PLC [JSE:ANG] and BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] were among the top movers in the JSE Top-40 Index as they closed up 2.97% and 2.88% respectively.
Naspers pushed higher, closing up 2.04%, while luxury goods maker Richemont closed 1.54% firmer. However, Steinhoff traded weaker, shedding 2.44% to close among the top losers in the Top-40 Index.
The JSE All-share Index closed up 0.59%, while the blue chip Top-40 Index firmed by 0.66%. The Resources Index firmed by 1.78%, mainly due to the miners which traded firmer on the back of higher commodity prices and the weaker rand.
The Financials Index weakened by 0.08% and the Industrials Index was 0.42% firmer.
Commodities
On the commodities front, metals had a positive day thanks to the rise in the price of global iron ore futures overnight. Palladium and platinum recorded some reasonable gains with the former almost breaking $900 per ounce Monday afternoon.
When the JSE closed palladium was trading at $894.34 per ounce. Platinum managed an intra-day high of $944.02 per ounce before it was recorded at $937.39 per ounce just after the JSE closed.
Despite increasing tensions between the US and North Korea, there wasn’t a big upward move in the gold price as it traded relatively flat. The metal managed to reach intra-day highs of $1 271.23 per ounce, which pushed some of the gold miners on the JSE higher.
Stocks such as Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti closed up 1.40% and 1.29% respectively. Gold was recorded at $1 269.60 per ounce when the JSE closed.
Brent crude had another positive day following four consecutive sessions of gains. The commodity reached an intra-day high of $52.92 per barrel. However, it slid in the afternoon session to be recorded at $52.28 per barrel just after the JSE closed.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi next week to discuss why adherence to agreed production cuts has been low among the countries.
Attempts to increase oil prices through production cuts have been stifled by increased production from US shale gas producers, who have increased their production output.
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox.
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories
