MARKET WRAP: JSE and rand firm as investors digest rate hikes at home and abroad

The JSE closed firmer and global peers were mixed on Thursday as the rand  firmed with investors digesting policy decisions by the Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank (ECB). 

The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) raised the repo rate for a fifth successive meeting — by 75 basis points (bps) to 5.5% — in a move to curb accelerating inflation, which remained above the Bank’s target range of 3%-6%. Annual consumer inflation reached a 13-year high of 7.4% in June, well above May’s 6.5%, according to latest figures from Stats SA…