The All Share Index opened lower by 129.5 points or 0.24% on Thursday as the Asian markets ended their session in negative territory. Our local bourse gained throughout the day, and eventually we surrendered all our gains and closed 0.03% in the red. Industrials closed higher by 0.50% mostly due to a 1.98% increase in Naspers. Financials were the worst performing sector and the index closed lower by 1.80%, led by Absa and Firstrand which closed lower by 3.52% and 2.69% respectively. The gold miners closed higher by 2.33% whilst listed property surrendered 0.74%. On the company reporting front, Dischem announced a trading update for the 22 weeks ending 2 February 2019 and the company advised that they recorded Group revenue growth of 10.7% to R9.4bn compared to the corresponding prior period, with the biggest market share gains coming in October and November on the back of a successful ‘MicroPopz’ promotional campaign. The campaign saw 500 000 new customers walking through their doors with a high conviction rate in terms of turning these customers into loyalty members. The current ongoing industrial action heavily impacted December trade and continues to affect the Group. As a result, the December trading month saw retail revenue growth of 6.2% and retail comparable store revenue decline 2.5%. The stock declined 6.17%. City Lodge released their results for the half year ended 31 December 2018, and the salient features were a 6% decline in normalised diluted HEPS with an ROE of 17% and average group occupancies disclosed at 58%. The stock closed lower by 3.81%. Assore released a trading statement for the half year ended 31 December 2018, and the company guided for HEPS to be between R26.85 to R29.08, being an increase of between 13% and 22% compared to the R23.79 disclosed for the previous comparative period. The stock closed marginally higher by 0.04%. On the economic front, the Japanese economy grew at an annualized 1.4% in the December quarter of 2018, after an upwardly revised 2.6% contraction in the September quarter, and matching market consensus. The German economy expanded at a calendar-adjusted 0.6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, following a 1.1% growth in the previous three-month period. Mining production in South Africa decreased 4.8% year-on-year in December 2018, following an upwardly revised 5.8% fall in November and compared with market expectations of a 0.6% decline. The GDP in the Euro Area expanded 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2018, over the same quarter of the previous year. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased by 4000 to 239 000 in the week ending 9 February 2019 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 235 000 and compared to market expectations of 225 000. Total value traded for the day was recorded at R20.787bn