JSE could face pressure on Monday as investors eye state virus plans
The JSE could be in store for another tough start to the week on Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic increasingly disrupts global travel.
A US stimulus bill failed to pass in Congress at the weekend, putting some strain on sentiment, which was lifted at the end of last week by a spate of stimulus and liquidity measures undertaken by global central banks to counter the effect of the virus.
Coronavirus updates in Europe and the US continue to suggest the world is nowhere near being out of the woods or even close enough to guess on when that could potentially be, Oanda analyst Edward Moya said in a note.
The death toll in Italy, the most-affected European country, has now surpassed deaths in China.
In SA, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a series of meetings on Sunday with business and political leaders, and is expected to give an address later on Monday.
Ramaphosa is expected to offer guidance on additional steps that may be taken to address the pandemic’s economic impact, as well as the possible tightening of restrictions as the number of confirmed cases in SA reaches 274, Peregrine Treasury Solutions Treasury partner Bianca Botes said in a note.
In morning trade on Monday the Hang Seng fell 3.75% and Australia’s all ordinaries index 4.84%. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.7%.
Tencent, of which the Naspers stable is the largest single shareholder, gave back 0.83%.
Gold was down 0.21% at $1,493.32 an ounce while platinum dropped 3.03% to $621.66. Brent crude was 4.14% lower at $26.25 a barrel.
The rand was 0.52% weaker at R17.69 a dollar.
Private education group AdvTech expects to report a rise in profits in its year to end-December later, partially due to its acquisition of Monash SA.
Source: businesslive.co.za