JSE likely to follow Asian stocks higher

The JSE looked set to rise with Asian stock markets on Monday morning.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied more than 2%, with Naspers’s main asset Tencent gaining 1.36% to HK$358.80.

In Sydney, BHP was up 1.42% to A$33.18, helping the ASX 200 gain 0.3%.

Tokyo’s Topix index was up 1.14%, mainland China’s Shanghai composite index was up 1.43%, and Wellington’s NZX 50 closed 0.53% higher.

The buoyancy of stock markets trading ahead of the JSE’s opening was attributed to news from the US Federal Reserve’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole.

US central bankers generally indicated they intend continuing to raise interest rates.

The New York Times was disappointed with recently appointed Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s opening address at the conference.

“The chairman of the Federal Reserve, in a much-anticipated speech on Friday, spent most of his time explaining the challenges facing the central bank as it conducts its monetary policy. Mr Powell emphasised the difficulties of understanding America’s changing economy and argued for a flexible approach,” the New York Times wrote.

“But in concentrating on why macroeconomic forecasting is hard, Mr Powell may have passed up a high-profile opportunity to drill down on some of the forces that could have a real bearing on the economy in the coming months — and that have bedeviled Fed policymakers in the past. These include a stock market that hit an all-time high on Friday.”

The rand was relatively calm on Monday morning, trading at R14.28 to the dollar, R16.59 to the euro and R18.35 to the pound at 6.55am.

Monday is relatively quiet, with only private school and staffing group Advtech diarised to release its interim results for the six months to end-June.