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Johannesburg - The JSE closed softer on Thursday after the local bourse failed to grasp onto its earlier gains.
Global markets were sent into a frenzy towards the JSE close, following the announcement that US President Donald Trump called off the June 12 summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Gold immediately went above $1 300 per ounce following the announcement, as the US dollar slid further from its overnight highs.
Locally, the rand strengthened to a session high of R12.39 after having slipped to a low of R12.59 earlier on. At 17:00 the local unit was trading at R12.47/$.
On the local index there were big movements recorded in some stocks as a result of earnings results and trading statements.
Massmart [JSE:MSM] flagged significant decreases in earnings in the trading statement released today, and as a result the stock lost 17.96% to close at R115.00 per share.
Mediclinic [JSE:MEI] and The Foschini Group’s [JSE:TFG] FY18 earnings results also disappointed. which saw the stocks end the day down 8.82% and 7.37% respectively.
Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS] also flagged a decrease in earnings in its FY18 results and as a result the stock closed at R333.29 per share, down 4.58% for the day.
Other big moves lower were recorded in stocks such as Barloworld [JSE:BAW] and Dis-Chem [JSE:DCP]' which lost 4.99% and 3.16% respectively, as well Truworths [JSE:TRU] and Mr Price [JSE:MRP], which shed 3.53% and 2.5% respectively.
Gains were limited particularly for the blue-chip counters, where AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] was the index’s top gainer after adding 3.62%.
This was also supported by the announcement that the miner is looking to cut 2 000 jobs as part of its restructuring. Fellow gold miner Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] gained 1.81%, while Sasol [JSE:SOL] and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] closed the day up 2.41% and 1.03% respectively.
On the broader index, Raubex Group [JSE:RBX] and Capital and Counties [JSE:CCO] managed to gain 1.54% and 4.14% respectively.
Brait [JSE:BAT] gained 4.1% to close at R41.12 per share, while Famous Brands [JSE:FBR] closed at R103.60 per share after gaining 0.78%.
The blue-chip JSE Top-40 Index closed the day down 0.5%, while the JSE All-Share Index slid by 0.6%.
A tough day ensued for the JSE as all the major indices closed in the red. The Resources Index shed 0.92%, while the Financials Index lost 0.83%.
The Industrials Index eventually closed the day down 0.41%.
Gold gained over 1% to peak at a session high of $1 306.69/oz. At 17:00 gold was trading at $1305.66/oz, while platinum was also trading firmer at $912.37/Oz.
Palladium was trading 0.5% weaker at $979.49/oz.
Brent crude lost over 1% to reach a session low of $78.57 per barrel, before it retraced to trade at $79.09/barrel just after the JSE close.
Bitcoin tumbled today following news that the US Justice Department plans to launch a price manipulation probe into the currency as well as other digital currencies.
At 17:00 bitcoin was down 4.95% to trade at $7527.30 per coin, while Ethereum was 5.18% weaker at $585.60 per coin.
