April saw SA Listed Property outperform all other asset classes as the large counters recovered considerably from their losses in the first quarter. Fortress B (up 46.2%), Resillient (up 35.5%) and Redefine (up 20.3%) were the top performing stocks in the Top 60 for April. Resource shares as well as the large, Rand-hedge shares also performed well, supported by the weaker Rand. Global Equity Markets rose as well (in US Dollar terms) on the back of hopes of improvement in the trade dispute between the US and China.
The JSE All Share Index is up 5.4% for the month. Large-cap shares (up 5.8%) outperformed both Mid-cap (up 3.5%) and Small-cap (up 1.2%) shares. Resource shares (up 8.7%) were the top performers, followed by Industrials (up 5.2%). Financials (up 3.2%) gained the least in April. Developed Markets outperformed Emerging Markets this month. The MSCI World Index end the month up 1.3% in US Dollar terms while the MSCI Emerging Market Index (down 0.3%) remained relatively flat in US Dollar terms. South African bonds (down 0.7% in April) were unable to continue their strong performance of the previous quarter. South African Listed Property (as measured by the SAPY), up 7.7%, was able to recover some of its losses this month. The Rand depreciated against most major asset classes. It depreciated 5.4% against the US Dollar, 3.4% against the Pound Sterling and 3.5% against the Euro. The US Dollar Gold Price (down 0.5% in US Dollar terms) and the US Dollar Platinum Price (down 3.1% in US Dollar terms) both declined in April. The Brent Crude Oil Price ended the month 7.0% up in US Dollar terms after both OPEC and Russia said that they were going to cut supply.
