CRMS June 2017

The JSE fell from an almost all time high at the end of May, back to levels of the previous month. At the end of June the index closed on a value of 51611 points, down from 52840 at the beginning of the month, accounting for a decrease of approximately 2.3 percent, leaving this area quite erratic. With the economy in the doldrums, local companies on average, struggle to outperform any expectations of growth in the short term. The Rand remained relatively resilient in June, only losing about 1 percent against the Dollar, whereas the oil price remained under pressure, reaching a low point during June at just under $45 a barrel of Brent crude, and continues to fluctuate between $45 and $50 a barrel. The industrials index fell quite strongly along with the overall JSE at the end of June, and has since remained relatively flat.

The listed construction sector continued to slowly lose value in the month of June, with the CRMS index losing approximately 2.2 percent of its value. The index closed on 104.7 points at the end of June, which means the listed construction sector has only grown by 4.7 percent in real terms, compared to the same time last year. June was however a rather quiet month in terms of financial information coming out of the listed construction sector. Only the two listed cement companies PPC and Sephaku, released some results in the month of June.