It was a mixed start to the week across global equity markets, with some major indices finding strong support from oversold levels (Europe) when viewed on a short term basis while US markets rose in the first hour of trade only to fail to hold it's intraday highs as sellers regained control and offload more stock at year-to-date lows. This time, fears around...
Tuesday saw another down day across global markets as the sellers remained in control for much of the session on the JSE, across Asia as well in Europe as contagion and investor nervousness kept fingers on the selling button. On the Top 40 index, only 3 out of 40 shares closed in the green, this being British American Tobacco, Anglogold Ashanti and Anglo...
The biggest one-day rally in three years in Chinese equities on Monday failed to inspire other major global markets to shoot the lights out. This comes as a traders and investors in Europe and the United States face homegrown hurdles that could potentially put the brakes on short term gains. In the US, mid-term elections are sure to bring a fresh bout of...
Global equities ended in mixed territory on Friday as traders and investors digested fresh data out of China, the prospect of further rate hikes in the United States while assessing the potential for geopolitical tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia. Volatility was subdued during the North American trading session as the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
On Wednesday all eyes were on the US Federal Reserve as market participants awaited the commentary following the near-certain 25 basis point hike which saw the lending rate increase from 2.00% to 2.25%. General commentary from the committee highlighted the most known factors including: (1) the health of the US economy (2) low unemployment (3) rising wages...
On Tuesday the JSE came under pressure as it caught up with a softer global sentiment driven by traders expecting economic data, USD-China trade negotiations as well as political maneuverings out of Washington. For the day, the All Share Index was lower by 0.49% while the Top 40 declined by 0.64%. Leading the declining were financials, with Standard Bank and...
Global equities got off to a weaker start this week as traders assessed the impact of further tariffs as well as a slew of economic data and potentially market-moving events for the week ahead. This morning we saw the release of the Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes while tomorrow the US Federal Reserve's Interest Rate Announcement is made known...
Wednesday saw the release of a key piece of SA economic data which helped the Rand gain versus the major currencies. Inflation for the month of August (YoY) came in at 4.9% versus a prior reading of 5.1% and consensus forecast of 5.2%. This saw the Rand gain by approximately 27 cents versus the US Dollar, closing the session just above the R14.60 level from a...
Unum Market Commentary: Equities Stable As Traders Shrug Off Trade Woes; Copper Rebounds On Tuesday, traders appeared to ignore the threat of a trade war, instead focusing on a softer US Dollar to drive sentiment throughout the session which saw equities largely higher on the day. On the JSE, the All Share Index added 0.15% while the Top 40 managed to stay in...
It was a risk-off start to the trading week for global equities as new rounds of jabs between the United States and China regarding trade saw Asian equities attract sellers early in the session, with the the major Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite Indices losing over 1% each while the Nikki bucked the trend, adding 1.19%. In Europe, markets continued with the...
Despite being down on the week, South African equity markets managed to stage a short term recovery to bounce back from it's mid-week week lows as bargain hunters sought the opportunity to accumulate. Another factor that drove the recovery was a rebound in Chinese markets following a prolonged sell-off. For the session, the All-Share Index added 0.74% while the...
On Thursday, South African equities managed to bounce back with a 0.38% gain for the All Share Index while the Top 40 Index managed to add 0.35% for the session as emerging market assets found support on the back of a weaker US Dollar driven softer inflation data which also curtailed expectations of aggressive rate increases by the US Federal Reserve. We also saw...
South African equity markets continued to trade with a downside bias, this time being held back by financial sector as stocks such as Firstrand, Standard Bank and Absa fell sharply. For the session, the All Share declined by 0.40% while the Top 40 index shed 0.45%. On the upside, winners included British American Tobacco benefited as the US Food and Drug...
On Tuesday, many traders and investors on the JSE most likely knocked off and called it a Tough Tuesday! If one looks at the scoreboard, it certainly appeared to be, with the All Share Index closing lower by 0.95% while the Top 40 Index was 1% in the red however well off the lows of the day. Leading the decline on the downside was Pepkor with a 3.26% decline...
South African equity markets started the week on a softer note as fears around trade between the United States and China continued to weigh on global sentiment. For the session, the All Share Index finished lower by 0.62% while the Top 40 declined by 0.57%, lead lower by Tiger Brands (-2.29%), Shoprite (-2.24%) and Bidvest (2.09%). On the upside, winners...
On Friday, South African equity markets were stable, holding near the lows of the week and continuing to trade within a tight, two-day range. For the session, the All Share closed 0.05% higher at 57130, while the Top 40 index was in the green by 0.12%. Supporting the positive close was Naspers (+2.61%), Discovery Holdings (+2.27), Firstrand (+2.23%) and Tiger...
On Thursday a stronger South African Rand helped to lift local shares, keeping the All Share Index in the green by 0.05%. On the day, the local currency traded in a 30c range versus the US Dollar, reaching a low of R15.53 and a high of R15.23. Providing support was banking group Firstrand that released it's results for the year ended 30 June 2018, showing a 12%...
On Friday, the South African equity market continued to soften following the sharp sell-off seen on Thursday. For the session, the All Share Index closed lower by 0.23% while the Top 40 index shed 0.35%. These declines were led by South 32 (-4.17%), AB Inbev (-2.60%) and Naspers (2.51%). On the upside, Bidvest, Bidcorp and Woolworths saw strong buying activity...