The JSE closed firmer on Monday as food and drug retailers rallied after Steinhoff and Shoprite called off their planned merger. Banks, under pressure most of the day, pared losses later in the afternoon after Citibank’s South African operation announced it would pay an administrative penalty of R69.5m as part of the forex trading cartel fingered recently by the Competition Commission. This did not exceed 10% of local turnover, it said. Gold shares weakened despite the rand firming against the dollar, which was slightly down against the euro. Shoprite’s share price rocketed and that of Steinhoff leapt as the market reacted positively to Steinhoff’s announcement in the morning. "The companies have decided to terminate their negotiations related to the proposed transaction as the parties could not reach agreement on the exchange ratio that would apply to the share exchange," said Steinhoff. Analysts said previously Shoprite shareholders would not extract much value from the deal in wh...
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