The JSE was marginally firmer on Wednesday morning, with global markets mixed as investors await more economic data from the US to discern the Federal Reserve’s next moves.
With signs of inflation cooling from its peak two years ago in the US and the world’s biggest economy remaining resilient, investors are increasingly betting the Fed will cut rates in 2024.
However, some Fed officials have been sounding more cautious about the prospect of rate cuts since Fed chair Jerome Powell’s comments last week.
US jobless claims data is due for release on Thursday. The forecast is for 215,000 new claims, up from last week’s 202,000. Markets would welcome a slight uptick, as that would signal a moderately weaker jobs market, giving the Fed more cover to cut rates, reported Bloomberg.
Investors will get the last inflation data for the year when the US releases the core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index for November on Friday. The PCE index, which is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, has been easing since the middle of 2022.
The JSE all share gained 0.15% to 74,956.34 points and the top 40 added 0.13%. Financials added 0.74%, banks 0.7% and food producers 0.6%. Industrial metals lost 0.32%, precious metals 0.31%, listed property 0.27% and resources 0.15%.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were little changed.
Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai composite index was down 1.03%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.56% and Japan’s Nikkei 1.37%.
A 11.35am, the rand was little changed at R18.3056/$, while it had firmed 0.28% to R20.0646/€ and 0.54% to R23.1784/£. The euro was 0.19% weaker at $1.0961.
Gold was unchanged at $2,041.25/oz, while platinum lost 0.38% to $953.9/oz. Brent crude was 0.59% firmer at $79.72 a barrel.
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