MARKET WRAP: JSE ends the first day of the decade up

The JSE ended the first trading day of the new decade on a positive note on Thursday, gaining 1.18% at the close. 

The rand also carried the festive cheer into the new year with fair gains in the morning, however, as the day wore on, these began to fade. Shortly after 5pm, the rand had firmed 0.51% to R14.0821/$, 0.19% to R15.7428/€, and was little changed at R18.5392/£.

Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump tweeted that he would sign the phase-one trade deal with China on January 15 at the White house, with high level representatives of China present. He also said that he would going to Beijing at a later stage to discuss phase two of the trade deal. 

China’s central bank said overnight it would lower the amount of cash banks are required to hold, the eighth reduction since 2018. The move should free about 800-billion yuan ($115bn) to boost China’s economy, reported Reuters.

European markets were mostly positive, while their Asian counterparts were mixed, as trade volumes remained thin on the second day of the year with most traders still on holiday. It is expected that the markets will be more active next week as traders get back to their desks.

Earlier, the Shanghai Composite gained 1.15% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1.25%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.76%.

The Dow was last seen up 0.55% at 28,695.62 points. In Europe, France’s CAC 40 had gained 1.25%, the German DAX 30 1.01%, and the FTSE 100 0.94%.

Source: businesslive.co.za