JSE closes slightly higher, as banks retreat on weaker rand while miners gain
The JSE closed marginally higher on Monday in thin trade as the weaker rand lifted rand hedges and miners, while banks and retailers fell on concerns about inflation.Volumes amounted to only R11.3bn at the close, from a daily average of about R20bn.Miners benefited from a firmer oil price, although prices did pull back a little toward the JSE’s close. Brent crude was at $73.64 a barrel, after briefly breaking through $74 in intraday trade.The rand fell to a three-month weakest level of R12.2891 to the dollar after the latter gained on a weaker US bond market. US bond yields spiked as consistently firmer oil prices are set to cause higher inflation, probably prompting the US Federal Reserve to adopt a more hawkish stance.Old Mutual Multi-Managers analyst Dave Mohr said geopolitical risk, mainly in Syria, had also been a driver of higher oil prices. "Locally, higher petrol prices will put upward pressure on inflation as it has a 4.5% direct weighting in the consumer price index basket...
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