South Africa Stocks Whipsaw as Gold Miners Counter Ore Producers

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa’s main stock index is little changed as of 10:01 a.m. in Johannesburg after gaining and falling as much as 0.3%. Strength among gold producers on renewed haven demand counters weakness among diversified miners. Declines in market heavyweights Sasol Ltd., Naspers Ltd., and Richemont offset advancing banks and retailers.

Investors’ appetite for risk is being tested amid concern over virus-related economic threats, as well as stalled U.S. stimulus talks, and as mounting tension between Washington and Beijing weighs on sentiment.

• Luxury retailer Richemont falls 0.6%. Sasol retreats 1.8%, dropping for a third day. The company on Monday reported an annual loss after $6.5 billion in asset writedowns.
  • NOTE: Sasol’s Loss, Last-Ditch Funding Effort Drive Shares Lower
• Index of mining compoanies retreats 0.4%, as BHP Group Plc leads diversified miners lower, countering gains from gold producers.
  • BHP falls 2.4%, biggest decline in almost a month, after the company said iron ore prices will ease from current levels.
    • NOTE: BHP Sees Iron Ore Swings as Brazil Takes Years to Normalize
    • NOTE: BHP’s Greener Future Doesn’t Mean Quitting Fossil Fuels Yet
  • Anglo American Plc -0.7%, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. -0.3%, Glencore Plc -0.8%, African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. -0.9%.
  • Sub-index for gold producers rises for a second day, up 2.9% to a one-week high as bullion prices soar, with investors weighing simmering tensions between the U.S. and China, which fanned demand for haven assets, and the upcoming release of Federal Reserve minutes.
    • NOTE: Gold Advances as Investors Weigh Geopolitics, Fed
    • Gold Fields Ltd. +3.7%, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. +1.7%, Harmony Gold Mining Co. +3.6%, DRDGold Ltd. +3.7%, Pan African Resources Plc +2.6%
• Index of bank stocks halt a two-day slide, rises 0.7% as a weakening dollar drives the rand higher.
• “The dollar remains under pressure as China and U.S. tensions mount and an impasse over the stimulus package in the U.S. weighed on investor sentiment,” Matete Thulare, a Johannesburg-based analyst at Rand Merchant Bank, said in a note to clients.
• Standard Bank Group Ltd. +0.6%, FirstRand Ltd. +0.5%, Capitec Bank Ltd. +1.7%, Investec Plc +1.2%, Absa Group Ltd +0.4%, Nedbank +0.4%.
• Food and drug retailers rise 1.1%, while general retailers advance 0.5%
  • Shoprite Holdings Ltd. +2.9%, Spar Group Ltd +1.4%, Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. +2.1, Clicks Group Ltd. +0.2%, Dis-Chem Pharmacies Ltd. +0.6%
  • Mr Price Group Ltd. +3.1%, Woolworths Holdings Ltd. +0.4%, Truworths +0.3%, Lewis Group Ltd. +3%
• Foreigners were net sellers of South African stocks Monday, disposing of 359m rand worth of shares, according to data compiled by exchange operator, JSE Ltd., in a sixth consecutive day of outflows.

NEWS:

• Gold Miners Jump With Berkshire Sending Barrick to 2013 High (2)
• Most South Africans Use Debt to Survive to Payday, Survey Find

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