JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange fell on Friday as a sell-off in banking stocks globally drove investors away from riskier assets and following mixed U.S. jobs data.
A rout on Thursday in shares of U.S.-listed SVB Financial Group, after the company’s attempt to raise capital failed, spread uncertainty through global financial stocks, while U.S. jobs data on Friday sent mixed signals as it showed strong job creation but also an easing of wage growth.
Both the blue-chip Top 40 index and its broader all-share counterpart closed down 1.6%.
Markets that usually thrive on certainty had a lot to absorb on Friday, said Greg Davies, Head of Wealth at Cratos Capital.
Despite the spooked stock market, the South African rand firmed as the dollar fell after the data showing slower wage U.S. growth, suggesting inflation pressures are easing and could lead the Federal Reserve to more modest interest rate rises than previously expected.
At 1540 GMT, the rand traded at 18.2650 to the dollar, around 1.6% stronger than its previous close.
The dollar was last down over 1.1% against a basket of global currencies.
The rand hit a three-year low earlier in the week as data showed the South African economy had contracted more than expected, and S&P Global downgraded the country’s outlook to “stable” from “positive”.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was slightly stronger on Friday, with the yield down 5 basis points to 10.150%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Nellie PeytonEditing by Alexander Winning, Bhargav Acharya and Susan Fenton)
