The JSE was little changed on Monday morning, while its global peers were mixed as investors considered the implications of a strong US jobs report on the monetary policy outlook.
The US jobs data came in stronger than expected on Friday, demonstrating the resilience of the US economy, raising questions about how soon the US Federal Reserve will be able to lower interest rates.
Fed chair Jerome Powell stated in a CBS 60 Minutes interview on Sunday that the Fed would be cautious about cutting rates and that there would probably be fewer cuts than the market was pricing in.
The Fed kept interest rates steady last week and pushed back against market expectations for a cut at the March meeting, highlighting the need to see inflation coming down more “sustainably towards” its 2% goal.
“Hopes of early US rate cuts dissipated as the US economy has once again demonstrated its resilience, specifically in the labour market as nonfarm payrolls substantially beat expectations... while hawkish comments by the Fed, during a CBS interview on Sunday, further dispelled any hopes of an imminent rate cut,” Citadel Global director Bianca Botes said.
At 10.35am, the JSE all share and the top 40 were little changed, with the former at 74,369.89 points. Banks had added 0.88%, financials 0.7%, retailers 0.76% and SA listed property 0.11%.
At the same time in Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were little changed.
Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite lost 1.02% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.11%, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.54%.
At 10.34am, the rand had weakened 0.53% to R18.967/$, 0.22% to R20.4346/€ and 0.37% to R23.931/£. The euro was 0.12% weaker at $1.0772.
Gold lost 0.8% to $2,023.07/oz and platinum 0.19% to $891.7/oz. Brent crude was little changed at $77.3 a barrel.
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