JSE likely to follow Asian stocks lower on Tuesday

Tencent was down 2.3% to HK$384.80, a bad omen for Naspers and in turn the JSE on Tuesday.

The Hang Seng index was down 2.7% as Hong Kong stocks caught up with Monday’s slump in other Asian markets following a long weekend.

Asian markets were spooked on Tuesday morning by a threat US President Donald Trump made against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at a White House press conference following a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

“The WTO has treated the US very, very badly and I hope they change their ways,” Trump told reporters.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 1% and the Shanghai composite index was down 1.3%.

Sydney’s ASX 200, however, was up 0.5% after the Reserve Bank of Australia held its interest rate at 1.5% as expected.

The Australian Securities Exchange’s index rose despite BHP falling 1.96% to A$32.94.

The rand was trading at R13.88 to the dollar, R16.15 to the euro and R18.24 to the pound at 6.30am.

Tuesday is a quiet day on the JSE results and South African economic data fronts.