Rand hedges lift JSE into positive territory despite woeful budget statement
The JSE pushed to within 70 points of a record high in intraday trade on Wednesday, closing firmer as rand hedges surged despite a litany of bad news from Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba. Both the top 40 and industrial indices beat previous records, despite a medium-term budget policy statement that analysts said had spiked SA’s chances of further credit-ratings downgrades. The rand slumped against all major currencies, after Gigaba revised SA’s growth outlook downwards and the government’s deficit upwards, and said that embattled state-owned enterprises would be on the receiving end of substantial bailouts. British American Tobacco was a stand-out performer, gaining 3.48% to R904, and Richemont added 3.17% to R127.50. The all share gained 0.38% to 58,123.1 points and the top 40 rose 0.5%. Gold miners gained 1.97%, platinums 1.89%, industrials 0.87% and resources 0.51%. The property index fell 1.56%, banks 1.11% and general retailers 0.5%. Gigaba said the consolidated budget deficit ...
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