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The JSE advanced on Friday on the back of broad-based gains across all the major indices.
Global markets were anticipating the all-important US non-farm payrolls numbers which were expected to come in lower than the previous recording.
US non-farm payrolls for the month of December came in lower than expected as the US economy added 145 000 jobs instead of the forecast 160 000 jobs.
The unemployment rate in the USA was unchanged at 3.5%.
Locally there were no economic data releases however, the JSE seemed to take a leaf from trends in other global markets such as the USA which rallied to new all-time highs on Thursday following news that China was going to sign the first phase deal in the ongoing trade talks with the USA.
On the currency market, the rand started off the day with some momentum as it traded firmer against the greenback.
However, it fell in the afternoon session as it slipped to a session low of R14.27/$. At 17:00, the rand was trading 0.35% weaker at R14.25/$.
Ascendis Health [JSE:ASC] struggled in today’s session as tumbled 10.69% to close at R1.42. Mondi PLC [JSE:MNP] weakened following the announcement that its CEO would be stepping down.
The share eventually closed 3.01% weaker at R307.80. Gold miners traded mostly weaker on the day with losses being recorded for Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] which lost 0.97% to close at R52.03, and Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] which fell 1.22% to close at R88.32.
Other losses on the day were recorded for Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHP] which lost 1.33% to close at R120.00, Nampak [JSE:NPK] dropped 3.23% to close at R6.00, and Mediclinic [JSE:MEI] closed at R74.13 after losing 0.27%.
Telkom [JSE:TKG] closed amongst the day’s biggest movers after the stock rallied 9.6% to close at R32.76, while industry peer MTN Group [JSE:MTN] gained 5.08% to close at R83.50.
EOH Holdings [JSE:EOH] also surged on the day as it climbed 5.34% to close at R12.22, while Tsogo Sun Gaming [JSE:TSG] managed to gain 3.28% to close at R11.98.
Other significant risers on the day included Naspers [JSE:NPN] which added 1.47% to close at R2375.50, Sasol [JSE:SOL] which gained 2.32% to close at R310.00, and DRD Gold [JSE:DRD] which was buoyed by the release of a positive production update which saw the stock gain 5.07% to close at R8.29.
The JSE All-Share index eventually closed 0.8% higher while the JSE Top-40 index gained 0.66%.
The Industrials index gained 1.01%, while the Financials and Resources indices added a more modest 0.24% and 0.38% respectively.
Brent crude had another subdued session as it was recorded trading 0.4% weaker at $65.12/barrel just after the JSE close.
At 17:00, gold was only up 0.08% at $1553.26/oz, palladium was 0.48% firmer at $2118.50/oz, and platinum was up 0.58% to trade at $971.85/oz.
