A firm message from the US Federal Reserve that it would not cut interest rates any time soon offset optimism over China’s decision to phase out the last of its Covid-19 restrictions with global markets mixed on Thursday.
After reversing its losses on Wednesday to gain cautiously and close in the green, the JSE extended its gains on Thursday with the All Share Index closing 1.17% higher at 75,439 points.
The sobering message from the Fed that it would continue with its monetary tightening policy weighed on global peers as European stocks struggled in particular while US stocks also stumbled during early trade.
Asian shares climbed following news that China’s mainland border with Hong Kong would be opened for the first time in three years.
The hawkish tone of the Fed put the brakes on the rand’s strength as the local unit breached the R16.80 mark at one point yesterday only to close at R16.88 before opening weaker, in line with emerging market currencies, at R16.96 this morning.
At 17:11, the local unit was trading nearly 2% weaker against the greenback at R17.21.
In the US, the S&P 500 is trading 0.69% weaker, Germany’s DAX is 0.40% down, France’s CAC 40 is 0.088% lower and the FTSE 100 is 0.91% higher.
In Asia, the Hong Kong Hang Seng (1.25%), Shanghai Composite (1.01%), and Japan’s Nikkei (0.40%) all closed higher.
