The JSE was firmer on Monday morning with its global peers mixed as Russia’s war in Ukraine pushed into a second month. That sparked a cautious start to the week, while investors considered the economic effects of tighter US monetary policy.
The Russia-Ukraine war continues to be the central focus for markets. With no end to the war in sight, investors are concerned about a gloomy economic outlook due to inflationary pressures and material shortages, which are expected to feed through to consumer prices in the coming months.
Meanwhile, US Federal Reserve officials have indicated readiness to take more aggressive action to bring inflation under control. Fed chair Jerome Powell has opened the door to raising rates by more than 25 basis points at future policy meetings.
“Stocks are showing a cautious start to the week as investors watch developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine, while Fed rate hike expectations continue to grow,” said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.
At 10.10am, the JSE all share had gained 0.22% to 74,486.32 points, while the top 40 was little changed. Financials had added 0.92%, banks 0.85% and industrials 0.12%. Precious metals had lost 0.91% and resources 0.3%.
At the same time, the London's FTSE had gained 0.29%, France's CAC 40 0.89% and Germany's DAX 1.22%.
Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite was little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.21%, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.73%.
At 9.31am, the rand had weakened 0.56% to R14.6371/$, 0.32% to R16.0329/€ and 0.42% to R19.2520/£. The euro was 0.24% weaker at $1.0955.
In morning trade, the yield on the R2030 rose 4.5 basis points to 9.72%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Gold lost 1.29% to $1,933.07/oz and platinum 0.47% to $998. Brent crude was 1.25% weaker at $116.66 a barrel.
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