South African Stocks 0.5% Lower, Tunisia SE Rises 0.8%;

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index falls 0.5% in Johannesburg. Fortress drops after Resilient and Fortress announce they will restructure Siyakha Trust and Siyakha 2 Trust, with the intention to unwind cross-shareholding.

• Biggest laggers by percentage points: Tiger Brands (-7.9%), after U.A.E. bans co.’s processed meat products, Kumba (-7.1%), Fortress B shares (-5.9%), Fortress A shares (-5.6%), Steinhoff (-4.7%), BHP (-4.2%), FirstRand (-3.9%)
• News:
  • Everglen to Sell About $100m of Transaction Capital Shares
  • New Look to Close Stores, Slash Hundreds of Jobs in Rescue Bid
  • Resilient, Fortress to Restructure Siyakha Education Trusts
  • UBS Sees Commodities Risks If ‘Deep Trade War’ Breaks Out
  • KAP Industrial Shows Signs of Recovery Amid Steinhoff Concerns
  • Pravin Gordhan Sees Strong Wind of Change Blowing Through South Africa (Video)
  • South Africa’s Richest Man Is Said to Seek Vumatel for Fiber
  • S. African Land Reform Won’t Be Disruptive, ANC’s Mashatile Says

Tunisia SE Rises 0.8%; Banque Internationale Tunisie Leads Gains
The Tunisia Stock Exchange Tunindex rose for the fourth day, climbing 0.8 percent, or 55.1 to 6,791.43. The move was the biggest since rising 0.9 percent on Feb. 6. The MSCI Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa Index declined 1.1 percent.

Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie contributed the most to the advance, rising 0.7 percent. Societe Tunisienne de Verreries increased 2.9 percent, the biggest gain. Banque de Tunisie et des Emirates d’Investissement fell 3.2 percent, the biggest loss. The biggest movers also included: Banque de Tunisie, up 0.5 percent; Societe Tunisienne de Banque, up 2.4 percent; Attijari Bank, down 0.3 percent; and Carthage Cement, down 0.4 percent.

In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain six times and was little changed the next day. It advanced four times for an average 0.5 percent and declined two times for an average 0.4 percent.

• Index is at 52-week high.

Today, 17 of 55 shares rose, while 11 fell. The Tunisia SE is up 8.1 percent so far this year. The index is 23 percent above its 52-week low of 5,517.11 reached on March 31.