Market overview
The FTSE/JSE All Share closed last week at 71 657.25, decreasing by 1.00%. The technology and industrial sectors increased by 2.11% and 0.35% respectively during the week. The basic materials and telecommunications sectors decreased by 3.27% and 1.31% respectively during the same period.
Looking at the MSCI indices, developed markets decreased by 0.26% during the previous week while emerging markets decreased by 1.61% over the same period.
SA manufacturing under pressure
The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index decreased for the eighth consecutive month to 45.4 in September 2023 from 49.7 in the prior month. The business activity sub-index fell 8.1 points to 41.9 in September, reversing most of August’s almost 12-point gain, as a result of more intense rolling power blackouts and weak domestic and external demand.
Thanks to PPS Investments for the weekly Market Overview.
Oil jumps, stocks drop on Middle East conflict: Markets wrap
Oil jumped more than 5% after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel raised fears of a wider conflict. Investors shunned traditionally risky assets such as stocks and instead bought gold, bonds and the dollar. Read the full Moneyweb article here>
Warning for interest rates in South Africa
South Africans can expect another interest rate hike this year amid concerns over global oil prices. According to the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), the rand’s losses last week – a 3% decrease versus the US dollar – intensified concerns about the deteriorating inflation outlook. Read the full Businesstech article here>
Limp growth dulls foreign demand for SA private equity
South Africa’s private equity market may be attracting the attention of the nation’s biggest fund managers, but international investors are giving it a wide berth put off by lethargic output in Africa’s most advanced economy. Read the full Moneyweb article here>
Gold rises as investors seek safety from Middle East clashes
Gold prices climbed more than 1% on Monday as dramatic clashes between Israeli and Hamas forces at the weekend raised the risk of a wider Middle East conflict and spurred a rush to safe haven investments such as bullion. Read the full Business Day article here>