The JSE was little changed on Monday morning, while its global peers were mixed as the previous session’s rally petered out.
The rally at the end of last week was built on the perception that one softer-than-expected CPI report meant the Federal Reserve would ease on the aggressive monetary tightening path.
Fed governor Christopher Waller said the bank still had a long way to go before it would stop raising interest rates, despite last week’s cooling inflation report.
While officials could moderate the size of their rate hikes to 50 basis points at their next meeting or the one after that — after a string of 75 basis-point moves, Waller cautioned that officials were not close to a pause. Waller’s comments echoed remarks from Fed chair Jerome Powell and other colleagues, who said rate increases were far from over but the speed could possibly slow soon.
Meanwhile, China is looking into putting some Covid-19 relaxation measures and property market support in place, which brought some relief to the markets in Hong Kong.
“Markets were mixed in morning trade, as investors weighed assistance for China’s embattled property sector against comments by Fed governor Christopher Waller, warning that one soft inflation print is no reason for celebration,” Citadel Global director Bianca Botes said.
At 10.55am, the JSE all share was little changed at 73,029 points, while the top 40 was 0.12% firmer. Industrial metals had gained 0.94%, resources 0.41% and banks 0.15%, while precious metals had lost 0.22%.
At the same time in Europe, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.48%, France’s CAC 40 0.39% and Germany’s DAX 0.25%.
Earlier in Asia, Shanghai Composite lost 0.13% and Japan’s Nikkei 1.06%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.7%.
At 11.22am, the rand had weakened 0.15% to R17.2807/$, while it had strengthened 0.2% to R17.8331/€ and 0.13% to R20.3666/£. The euro was 0.33% weaker at $1.0319.
Gold lost 0.66% to $1,759.59/oz and platinum 0.96% to $1,015.60/oz. Brent crude was 0.27% weaker at $95.55 a barrel.
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