SA stocks and bonds poised for annual gain despite turbulent 2020

SA equities and bonds headed for an unlikely annual gain while the rand was only marginally weaker despite a year of unprecedented volatility marked by sovereign credit downgrades, policy stasis, a global pandemic and the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

The JSE was poised to end 2020 up 4.3% in what would be its second consecutive annual gain, while SA’s benchmark 2030 bond due on January 31 2030, headed for an annual advance with the yield on the security 13 basis points lower than where it ended 2019…