Small breather for stocks Fri, 24 Jan 2020 17:42:53 +0200
Local stocks edged higher on Friday in tandem with other global markets which rebounded as concerns over a deadly virus in China took lesser priority.
Local stocks have plummeted on the back of broad-based losses amongst global markets due to concerns over the spread of the virus which emanated in China.
Panic coursed through the world's second-largest equity market as investors sold stocks on concern a deadly virus will worsen over China's week-long trading break.
The local bourse has lost ground towards the close on Wednesday eventually erasing all its earlier gains.
The JSE fell on Tuesday following heavy losses in Asia which were mainly attributed to worries about a deadly virus in China.
The JSE closed softer on Monday following a relatively muted session in which the local bourse couldn’t gain significant momentum.
The metal rallied to post its best week since 2001 and shows little sign of slowing down.
The JSE surged on Friday in line with other global markets which were buoyed by easing trade tensions and good corporate earnings
The JSE closed mildly firmer on Thursday as it tracked other global markets higher on the back of the signing of the phase one trade deal between the USA and China
The JSE advanced on Tuesday primarily on the back of gains in the financials and industrials indices.
The JSE on Monday tried to take a leaf from the earlier trend in Asian equities where the Hang Seng surged 1.11% while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.98%.
United States non-farm payrolls for the month of December came in lower than expected as the US economy added 145 000 jobs instead of the forecast 160 000 jobs.
Miners have surged over the past couple of sessions on the back of firmer metal commodity prices, which have risen on the back of the tensions between the USA and Iraq.
Platinum stocks are buoyed by record prices for the palladium the miners dig up alongside their main product.
The price of oil spiked Wednesday after Iran launched revenge attacks on US forces in Iraq, making good on its pledge to hit back over the killing of its top general.
The rand weakened by as much as 2% on Friday morning in the wake of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the US military.
The strike in Baghdad ordered by President Donald Trump killed Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general who led the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force,
Nairobi’s benchmark gauge climbed 74% since the decade opened, with the JSE up just short of 9% in dollar terms.
The current strength of the rand appears to be "somewhat divorced" from actual sentiment around the SA economy, an emerging markets economist tells Fin24.
The surprise announcement that Boeing ousted its embattled CEO invigorated Wall Street, while trading was muted on European and Asian stock markets as many investors were already away for Christmas.