JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s main stock benchmark swung between gains and losses as investors responded to the possibility that the U.S. is heading for a contested election.
The benchmark index was 0.9 percent higher as of 10:04 a.m in Johannesburg, after falling as much as 0.8 percent.
An index of South African banks slid as much as 3.6 percent as the rand weakened against the dollar, with the too-close-to-call American vote buffeting emerging-market currencies. President Donald Trump declared he had won re-election against Joe Biden and said he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene, even as several battleground states continue to count votes.
Naspers, with a 20 percent weighting on the index, rose as much as 4.7 percent , providing the biggest boost to the market as it rebounded from Tuesday’s 4.2 percent slump, which was spurred by fallout from China’s shock suspension of the Ant Group initial public offering; subsidiary Prosus NV gained 3.6 percent.
- A gauge of local mining stocks dropped for the first day in three, falling 1.2 percent, led by declines in diversified miners.
- BHP Group -0.5 percent, Anglo American -0.8 percent, Gold Fields -2.6 percent, Impala Platinum Holdings -1.6 percent, Harmony Gold Mining Co. -2.6 percent, Northam Platinum -2.1 percent
- Weakness in the rand pulled bank stocks down, halting a two-day rally. Sector was 1.3 percent lower as of 10:54 a.m.
- FirstRand -2.1 percent, Standard Bank Group -1 percent, Absa Group -2.5 percent, Nedbank Group -2.4 percent
- Rand-hedge and index heavyweight Richemont extended gains for a third day, rising 3.2 percent
BLOOMBERG