The rand was firmer against hard currencies as risk appetite picked up globally while supply chain bottlenecks and fear about Covid-19’s Omicron variant continued to wane.
At 5.50pm on Monday the rand had gained 0.6% to R15.8957/$, 1.28% to R17.9512/€ and 1.11% to R21.3727/£. The euro fell 0.64% to $1.1292.
Momentum Investments economists Herman van Papendorp and Sanisha Packirisamy warned, however, that 2022 would be a tough year with economic growth expected to sink to as low as 2%.
“Growth and fiscal outcomes surprised markets to the upside in 2021, but risks are tilted to the downside for the new year. Growth is expected to soften significantly from the expected 4.9% rebound last year to a projected 2% in 2022.”
They said that a deceleration in global demand, softer commodity prices, electricity supply constraints and lingering unemployment will constrain activity and weigh on the government’s finances.
The JSE managed to eke out a fractional gain on its first trading day of the year with the all share closing at 73,722, just 64 points shy of its record high close last Thursday.
Karooooo, the holding company for vehicle recovery and fleet management group Cartrack, led the market gains, rising 7.48% to R575.
Consumer goods group Libstar came out second best on the day, gaining the most in five weeks, up 4.96% to R6.98.
Local bonds were a little firmer, with the yield on the R2030 benchmark government bond falling two basis points to 9.32%. Bond yields move inversely to their prices.
At 6.10pm gold had fallen 1.54% to $1,800.94/oz and platinum 1.87% to $950.50.
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