A 4% plummet in the rand-dollar exchange rate following news of fraud charges being brought against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan caused substantial losses in the share prices of banking and financial stocks on the JSE.Banks lost an effective R35bn in market cap value, which was wiped out immediately after the news broke. The banking index closed 3.58% lower with Nedbank losing 4.44% to R216.63 and FirstRand 3.98% to R45.34.The all-share, however, rose 0.43% to 51,898.80 points and the blue-chip top 40 added 0.62% as rand hedges and mining stocks gained from the rand’s weakness. Resources added 1.84% and gold miners 1.32%, despite a softer gold price. The South African listed property index shed 0.85%.The currency’s weakness increased the possibility of a downgrade of SA’s sovereign debt rating, affecting investor confidence in SA.Commodity prices retreated as the oil price returned some of its recent gains. The price of Brent crude was down 0.47% at $52.69 a barrel at the JSE’s c...
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