The JSE faces mostly higher Asian markets on Monday morning, with the rand near the psychologically important R14/$ mark amid pressure on the dollar and generally positive global sentiment.
US nonfarm payrolls numbers for April came in well short of expectations on Friday, with employers only adding about a quarter of the 1-million jobs expected.
The market has apparently looked past this poor data and is instead focusing on the prospect of low interests rates in the US for an extended period, with US markets higher on Friday.
“[It is all] very much global recovery behaviour with a dash of nagging inflation doubts,” said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley in a note.
Low interest rates will benefit the rand and other currencies, as it increases the relative value of SA’s higher-yielding bonds.
Locally, Moody’s Investors Service did not publish an update on SA’s credit rating at the weekend as scheduled on Friday, though analysts had not seen this as a market-moving event before the release.
The rand was flat at R14.05/$ in morning trade on Monday, at its best level since January 2020, while Asian markets were mixed.
In early trade the Hang Seng was down 0.33%, while Japan’s Nikkei added 0.52%.
Tencent, which gives direction to the JSE via the Naspers stable, fell 0.83%.
Gold was up 0.18% at $1,843/oz while platinum firmed 0.41% to $1,258.11. Brent crude was 0.62% higher at $68.62 a barrel.
Construction group Raubex is due to release its results for the year to end-February later, having said in a recent trading update though headline earnings per share could fall as much as 65%, it experienced a recovery in its second half after Covid-19 shuttered construction sites.
AngloGold Ashanti is due to release an operating update for the three months to end-March, its first quarter, later.
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