JSE faces risk-off trade on Monday as load-shedding threat persists

The JSE faces weaker Asian markets and the threat of load-shedding on Monday morning, with investor focus squarely on US-China trade war-related headlines.

US President Donald Trump’s comments that the US is not ready to roll back tariffs on China weighed on risk assets on Friday, with the sell-off continuing on Monday morning.

Adding to the pressure, China’s inflation rose to an eight-year high in October, amid surging pork prices.

Impeachment proceedings against Trump in the US will also feature more heavily than before this week, said Peregrine Treasury Solutions corporate treasury manager Bianca Botes in a note.

At 6.15am Hong Kong’s Hang Seng had fallen 2.1%, also under pressure due to continuing political protests in the wealth city. The Shanghai composite was down 1.22%.

Tencent slipped 0.49% in Hong Kong.

Gold added 0.22% to $1,462.26 an ounce while platinum slipped 0.35% to $886.78. Brent crude dropped 1.12% to $61.94 a barrel.

The rand was 0.35% weaker at R14.8968 a dollar.

Locally, the threat of load-shedding continues, with Eskom warning at the weekend that its grid is under pressure.

Economic data this week is expected to shed light on SA’s third-quarter economic performance, with retail sales numbers for September and mining production figures for the same month due on Thursday.

On Monday, the corporate calendar is somewhat light, though Vodacom is expected to release its results for the six months to end-September later. The company has not issued a trading statement, implying its headline earnings per share (heps) has not deviated in a range of 20% from the prior comparative period.

Construction group Raubex is expected to report that heps surged as much as 80% in its six months to end-August, with the company reporting strong growth in its infrastructure division, primarily due to its work in the independent power producer’s (IPP) programme.

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Source: businesslive.co.za