JSE could be subdued on Monday amid US-China trade war gloom

The JSE may react on Monday to a jump in US markets on Friday, although there is some gloominess in the market amid reports that China is reluctant to sign a new trade deal with the US.

The world’s two largest economies are set to resume high-level trade talks on Thursday, with equities lifted last week by hopes that the US Federal Reserve will loosen monetary policy in response to weak economic data.

Markets continue to struggle, but across the region things are probably not as bad as some would have expected, AxiTrader senior analyst Stephen Innes said in a note.

“And while it’s far from business as usual … few were bullishly positioned for a comprehensive trade deal anyway,” he said.

At 6.15am Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.32%, while the Australian Securities Exchange had added 0.6%.

Gold was up 0.11% at $1,506.29/oz while platinum had given back 0.21% to $878.58. Brent crude had dropped 0.55% to $58.16 a barrel.

The rand was steady at R15.07/$.

There is little on the local economic calendar on Monday, with the week’s major data release that of mining and manufacturing data for August on Thursday.

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