JSE faces challenge as Tencent drops, market digests Fed hike
Meanwhile, the authorities in China reiterated that the world’s second-largest economy is sticking to its zero-Covid policy after an unverified social media report sparked an earlier rally.
“As if there was any doubt that China would continue with its zero-Covid policy, last night China’s National Health Commission [NHC] issued a statement calling for vigilance to prevent and control the epidemic and to firmly adhere to the zero-Covid policy,” Wong said.
New economic data compounded the grim picture as the Caixin China General Services PMI and the Caixin China General Composite PMI fell. The slump in Hong Kong was largely the result of what happened in the US.
JSE follows US, European markets
In local market news, the JSE reversed course on Wednesday afternoon to close weaker, in line with US and European markets, as investors became cautious before the Fed’s announcement.
The JSE all share lost 0.43% to 67,123 points and the top 40 eased 0.47%. Retailers gained 1.33%, precious metals 1.24%, banks 0.63% and financials 0.41%. Industrial metals lost 1.1% and industrials 1%.
US markets ended lower on Wednesday, as the Nasdaq slipped by 3.36%, the S&P 500 2.50% and the Dow Jones 1.55%. The Nasdaq has lost more than one-third (33.53%) so far this year, the S&P 500 over one-fifth (21.62%) and the Dow Jones 12.13%.
The rand strengthened by 0.20% against the dollar, trading at R18.23. The rand has depreciated by 12.75% against the greenback so far this year.
In commodities, the price of Brent crude rose 0.17% to $95.68 a barrel, platinum 0.79% to $936.30 and gold 0.25% to $1,638.67/oz.
In corporate news, ICT group Datatec will publish its interim results, while miners AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields will provide quarterly updates.
On the economics front, S&P Global will release the October data for its PMI of SA. It fell to 49.2 in September from 51.7 the month before, pointing to the lowest reading since December 2021 as a result of worsening Eskom blackouts and the rising cost of living, which hindered business activity and customer demand.
At 1pm, Stats SA will release SA’s electricity consumption and production for September. Power generation fell for the sixth straight month in August, while plant breakdowns in September caused Eskom’s energy availability factor to drop to the lowest on record.
Source: businesslive.co.za