The JSE was the best-performing major equity market in August, stringing together a second consecutive positive month and moving into positive territory for the year, Anchor Capital fund manager Peter Little said on Friday.
The FTSE/JSE Capped All Share Index climbed 4.6% month on month in August, leaving it up 2.8% year to date.
As in 2025 and the first two months of 2026, precious-metals miners did most of the heavy lifting while the rest of the bourse struggled.
Gold miners climbed 38% month on month and contributed about five percentage points to the JSE’s August return as the gold price rose 9.7% month on month, rebounding meaningfully for the first time since February, Little said.
Platinum miners, which rose 21.6% month on month, were the other major contributor after the platinum price rallied 9%.
Outside the precious-metals miners, other positive contributions in August came from Shoprite, which rose 7.4% month on month, OUTsurance, up 6%, and ADvTECH, up 5%, Little said.
Shoprite guided to 10% to 15% year-on-year growth in headline earnings per share, with most analyst expectations at the bottom of that range. OUTsurance guided to normalised earnings-per-share growth of 15% to 21% year on year, also ahead of analyst expectations.
ADvTECH reported a 16% year-on-year increase in normalised earnings per share for the first half of its 2026 financial year, as enrolment growth, higher fees and improved collections lifted margins.
Retailers again featured among the JSE’s worst-performing stocks. SPAR fell 20% month on month and has now lost almost two-thirds of its market value over the past year.
The decline followed the resignations of chair Mike Bosman and deputy chair Shirley Zinn. In their resignation announcement, the directors cited sustained personal attacks and threats as the reason for their decisions.
JSE-listed companies with predominantly offshore earnings were also hurt in August as the rand strengthened 2.6% against the US dollar. AB InBev fell 10% month on month, while British American Tobacco declined 11%.
Investment conglomerates Naspers and Prosus fell 9% and 6%, respectively. Their currency headwind was compounded by weakness in Chinese equities. Their investment in Chinese technology group Tencent fell 4.7% during the month and was down about a quarter year to date.
Wendy Myers, head of securities at PSG Wealth, said the JSE still had a place in a diversified portfolio for South African investors.
She said recent steps to make the JSE more attractive for additional listings, including the simplification of listing requirements, had produced early signs of progress. These included the recent listings of Cell C, Optasia and French media group Canal+.
Myers said that, after a standout 2025 driven largely by the precious-metals boom, the JSE’s resources sector had become more volatile. It rose strongly in January before experiencing a significant pullback as sluggish global economic conditions and slower growth in China weighed on export demand.
Other parts of the market, however, remained resilient. Industrials rose about 6% in the first half of the year, with Grindrod, Omnia Holdings and AECI among the standout performers. Sasol also rebounded strongly from its lows.
Financial stocks, including Capitec, FirstRand and Standard Bank, delivered solid performances.
“This is the value of diversification in practice, and this past year has highlighted just how important it is to have both geographic and sector diversification in a portfolio. While some offshore markets have come off materially from their highs, different sectors and companies on the JSE have continued to deliver,” Myers said.
“At a time when many global portfolios are increasingly concentrated in a handful of large technology stocks, exposure to a broader mix of sectors can help reduce concentration risk and improve overall portfolio resilience,” she said.
edward.west@nationalmg.co.za