Sanlam Private Wealth Morning Digest 19 October 2018

Local Markets

Local markets extended their recent losses on Thursday, led lower by a decline in general retailers and industrials. Overall, the JSE All Share shed 0.49% to close at 52,132.6 index points, while the Top 40 declined by the same margin. General retailers shed 1.47%, with Mr Price and The Foschini Group falling 2.47% and 3% respectively. Industrials were affected by a 7.8% drop in Mediclinic International, with the share extending Wednesday’s 16.9% plunge. On the upside, the gold mining index added 0.71% to feature among the few indices which end in positive territory, despite the release of disappointing mining data.

American Markets

Wall Street ended sharply lower during the previous session, weighed down by increased concerns over global growth and a slump in technology shares. The NASDAQ led the region’s declines, down 2.06% as it moved to 7,485.14 index points. By the close, Netflix had fallen 4.93%, while Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet shed 3.33%, 2.82% and 2.48% respectively. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 lost 1.44%, followed by a 1.27% decline in the Dow Jones as it moved to settle at 25,379.45 index points. Lastly, Philip Morris bucked the trend after it added 3.5% following the release of its latest quarterly results.