JSE opens weaker as Naspers slumps to previous annual low
Market reacts cautiously to Tito Mboweni's appointment as finance minister as banks and retailers gain on firmer rand
The JSE opened lower on Wednesday as Naspers dragged the overall market down while banks and retailers gained on a firmer rand. Miners were early losers but retailers and banks were on the up. Naspers was 2.35% lower at R2,774 in early-morning trade, the weakest level since hitting R2,680 in intraday trade on April 5. It last closed below R2,700 in August 2017. The market heavyweight is now clearly in a pronounced bear market trend, having lost 20% so far in 2018, as its previously lucrative investment in Chinese internet company Tencent has turned sour. Tencent, of which Naspers owns about a third, has lost more than $200bn in market value over the past few months and is 40% down from its closing high in January. Naspers has halved its inflated price-to-earnings level of more than a 100 times a few months ago to a present 53, but the dividend yield remains at about 0.2%, mirroring the company's stingy dividend payments. The dividend yield usually rises when a share price falls, pot...
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