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The JSE closed softer on Wednesday following a relatively subdued trading session.
Global markets continue to be tentative given the current escalation of conflict between the USA and Iran which has seen several incidents being recorded.
These concerns saw Asian counters closing weaker where the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.15%, while the Hang Seng lost 0.83%.
The Nikkei lost 1.57%. In Europe, stocks traded mostly flat while US equity futures eventually pointed higher towards the cash market open.
The rand recovered from its earlier slump which saw it fall to a session low of R14.45/$. The local unit rallied to peak at a session high of R14.19/$ before it was recorded trading 0.44% firmer at R14.23/$.
On the JSE, Barloworld [JSE:BAW] finished amongst the day’s biggest losers after it fell 5.48% to close at R101.14.
Listed property stocks also came under pressure on the day as Intu Properties [JSE:ITU] lost 4.73% to close at R5.64, Sirius Real Estate [JSE:SRE] dropped 4.74% to close at R16.06, while RDI REIT [JSE:RPL] closed at R24.69 after losing 2.1%.
Index heavyweight Naspers [JSE:NPN] lost 1.4% as it closed at R2325.00, while oil and gas producer Sasol [JSE:SOL] closed 1.25% lower at R311.42.
Other significant losses on the day were recorded for Nedbank Group [JSE:NED] which dropped 1.49% to close at R209.82, Imperial Logistics [JSE:IMP] which lost 1.86% to close at R55.43, and Aspen Pharmacare [JSE:APN] which retreated 2.08% to close at R120.00.
Miners recorded the bulk of the day’s gains with platinum miners leading the surge.
Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] surged 5.45% to close at R152.90, Northam Platinum [JSE:NHM] gained 5.74% to close at R134.37, and Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] advanced 4.02% to end the day at R1383.41.
African Rainbow Minerals [JSE:ARI] rallied 3.04% to close at R166.31, while diversified mining giant BHP Group [JSE:BHP] gained 0.51% to close at R335.29.
Reinet Investments [JSE:RNI] climbed 2.77% to close at R297.00, while British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] added 1.27% to close at R644.59.
Gains were also recorded for Exxaro Resources [JSE:EXX] which rose 1.62% to close at R130.31, as well as ABSA Group [JSE:ABG] which closed at R142.95 after gaining 142.95%.
The JSE All-Share index eventually closed 0.11% weaker while the blue-chip JSE Top-40 index closed 0.12% softer.
The Resources index was the only index to close in the green as it closed 0.4% firmer. The Industrials and Financials indices retreated 0.5% and 0.08% respectively.
Brent crude which has surged recently on the back of the tensions between the USA and Iran pulled back in today’s session.
The commodity was recorded trading 0.6% softer at $67.86/barrel just after the JSE close.
At 17:00, Palladium was up 2.39% to trade at $2100.84/oz, Platinum was 0.71% softer at $964.06/oz, and Gold was 0.05% weaker at $1573.09/oz.
