The rally was a mix bag of a variety of stocks led by Reinet Investments, which rose 8.4% to R485.12 per share. File photo
The JSE All Share Index opened on a positive note today, rising by 0.8% to 82 716 index points by 10h30, snapping yesterday’s losses after plunging to its lowest in four months.
The rally was a mix bag of a variety of stocks led by Reinet Investments, which rose 8.4% to R485.12 per share after in announced that it has agreed to sell more than 43.3 million ordinary shares in British American Tobacco (BAT) at a price of £28.20 (around R650) per share to institutional investors, raising gross proceeds of some £1.221 billion (approximately R28.3 billion).
MTN Group also rose by 7.1% to R94.23 per share, followed by Kumba Iron Ore at 3.3% to R348.89 per share. Vodacom and Thungela Resources rose by 3.0% and 2.9% to R102.90 and RR133.57 per share, respectively, while Exxaro Resources went up by 2.6% to R154.51 per share.
Stocks on the JSE plunged yesterday as the bourse closed 1.7% down at 82 046 points, its lowest level since mid-September, which was also 3.1% lower in the past seven days.
Industrial stocks fell more than 2%, while financials were 1.89% lower.
Meanwhile, the rand also staged a late afternoon fightback yesterday and recovered some losses today as it dipped below the R19-mark to the US dollar.
This was after the rand traded as high as R19.21/$1 at its weakest, its lowest in nine months, amid an uncertain outlook for further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
“The dollar gave back some of its recent gains, which has assisted the rand to rapidly move back towards the R19.00/$ mark. We start the day at R18.98/$, R19.45/€ and R23.17/£,” said Bianca Botes, director at Citadel Global.
BUSINESS REPORT