The JSE was little changed on Tuesday morning as caution persisted amid riots in the country, while markets are still under pressure as the world battles with the third wave of Covid-19 infections.
Banks and retail stocks were under pressure as businesses were affected by the looting that has been taking place in the past few days. Riots and looting have taken place in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal as protests grew over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.
On Monday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the deployment of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to help police restore law and order after the days of looting emptied shopping centres and disrupted supply chains.
At 9.25am, the JSE all share and the top 40 were unchanged, with the former at 67,265.62 points. Banks had fallen 1.47%, financials 1.25%, retailers 0.91% and precious metals 0.88%.
The rand was on track for its second day of losses as volatility, reaching an intraday worst of R14.5435/$. At 10.12am, it had weakened 0.93% to R14.5424/$, 0.88% to R17.2249/€ and 0.83% to R20.1531/£. The euro was 0.15% weaker at $1.1844.
The rand, which reflects markets’ concerns about the effect of violent protests on the economy, fell nearly 2% on Monday, the most in six months at the height of the unrest.
Gold was little changed at $1,806.97/oz, while platinum lost 0.63% to $1,116.40. Brent crude added 0.59% to $75.60 a barrel.
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