South African Stocks Fall Amid Weakness in Naspers, Richemont

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa’s main stock benchmark declined as weakness from index giants Naspers Ltd., Richemont, and Anglo American Plc and BHP Group Plc offset gains among precious metal miners and banks.

The index was down 1.7% by 9:54 a.m. in Johannesburg, with 94 of the 142 listed companies opening lower. The retreat extends losses for a second week, after the market was closed Thursday for Heritage Day.

South Africa’s weakness comes as global equities markets recover Friday, with investors weighing the chances of a new American stimulus package against an uptick in global coronavirus cases.

• Naspers falls 4%, the biggest intraday decline since Sept.4, to provide biggest drag to the index as partly-owned tech giant, Tencent Holdings Ltd. retreats for a second day in Hong Kong. Naspers holds a 31% stake in Tencent through its subsidiary Prosus NV, which is also down 2.7%
  • NOTE: No Impact on Tencent Ratings From U.S. WeChat Ban, Moody’s Says
• Rand-hedge Richemont falls 3.2%, the biggest intraday drop since July 16,
• Index for bank stocks falls 0.8%, shaking off gains in the rand
  • Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. -2%, Absa Group Ltd. -1.2%, Standard Bank Group Ltd. -0.5%, FirstRand Ltd. -0.2%, Investec Plc -1.2%, Nedbank Group Ltd. -0.4%
• Gains in gold and platinum producers counters weakness in BHP and Anglo American, driving gauge for mining firms up 0.2%
  • Sub-index for gold miners rises 3.1% as bullion prices rebound
    • AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. +4.4%, Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd. +2.3%, DRDGold Ltd. +3%, Pan African Resources Plc +0.6%
  • Sub-index for platinum firms up 0.9%
    • Impala Platinum Holdings ltd. +2.3%, Anglo American platinum Ltd. +1.9%, Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. +2.4%, Northam Platinum ltd. +0.2%
• Foreigners were net sellers of South African stocks for a fifth day Wednesday, disposing of 20 million rand worth of shares, according to index operator, JSE Ltd.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.