The JSE is set for a blue Monday

It is going to be a blue Monday for the JSE, judging by Asian markets, which were dragged down by worse-than-expected Japanese GDP figures and a US official saying the deadline with China to conclude trade negotiations is not flexible.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was down 2.26%, rattled by Japan’s third-quarter GDP showing a contraction of 0.6%, double the expected 0.3% contraction.

“Traders returned from the weekend to face a growing wall of worry, with the world’s largest economies — the US, China and Japan — all reporting weaker-than-expected data, which pointed to moderating activity,” Reuters said.

US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said in a TV interview on Sunday that negotiations with China had to be concluded by March 1.