JSE brushes off buoyant global markets, suffering a second consecutive weekly loss
A firmer rand put rand hedges and financial stocks under pressure on Friday, with the local bourse capping off a dismal week by ending little changed.Market news during the week was dominated by the precipitous decline of global retailer Steinhoff, and related shares, which continued on Friday.Last Friday, ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Steinhoff’s credit rating from investment grade to junk status, placing directly in the "highly speculative" category.Moreover, the company was placed on review for a further downgrade and if additional details of accounting irregularities emerged, it could put more pressure on Steinhoff’s financial position, Rand Merchant Bank analyst Elena Ilkova said.Steinhoff has a total of R7.4bn worth of debt listed on the JSE, of which one bond, worth R580m was due for repayment on December 12.Global markets were firmer, with the Dow opening higher after a stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report for November.Naspers tracked further gains by Chinese assoc...
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