Market Update

Global – Janet’s D-Day 16 December Having experienced positive returns the previous month November heralded the return of a risk- off environment with both global and domestic markets delivering disappointing lacklustre returns. Read the full article Domestic – Sovereign debt downgrade? Following on October’s impressive gains November saw the return of a risk-off appetite with emerging markets coming under severe pressure on the back of Dollar strength and substantial declines in the price of commodities. The JSE/ALSI declined 3.86% with the Top40 index falling 3.92%. The JSE/ALSI’s 30-day volatility was reduced to 10.75 from the previous months 11.24. On the back of declining commodity prices it was no surprise that the RESI20 was the worst performing sector falling substantially by 22.52%. General mining fell heavily by 23.87% with the only glimmer of hope being the Media sector led by Naspers... Read More

Global – Janet’s D-Day 16 December Having experienced positive returns the previous month November heralded the return of a risk- off environment with both global and domestic markets delivering disappointing lacklustre returns. Read the full article Domestic – Sovereign debt downgrade? Following on October’s impressive gains November saw the return of a risk-off appetite with emerging markets coming under severe pressure on the back of Dollar strength and substantial declines in the price of commodities. The JSE/ALSI declined 3.86% with the Top40 index falling 3.92%. The JSE/ALSI’s 30-day volatility was reduced to 10.75 from the previous months 11.24. On the back of declining commodity prices it was no surprise that the RESI20 was the worst performing sector falling substantially by 22.52%. General mining fell heavily by 23.87% with the only glimmer of hope being the Media sector led by Naspers... Read More

Global – US recovery continues Global equities delivered positive returns in October after experiencing sharp falls earlier in the month over concerns relating to global economic growth. The sell-off was on the back of weak U.S. retail sales data, lagging inflation in Europe and slowing growth in Asia as well as stuttering growth in Japan. Read the full article Local – The road map to safeguard the public finances The substantial market correction which had its beginnings late September continued during the early part of October but managed a last minute gain on the back of the surprise Bank of Japan announcement at month end that it was to substantially increase its quantitative easing programme. Read the full article  

Global – US recovery continues Global equities delivered positive returns in October after experiencing sharp falls earlier in the month over concerns relating to global economic growth. The sell-off was on the back of weak U.S. retail sales data, lagging inflation in Europe and slowing growth in Asia as well as stuttering growth in Japan. Read the full article Local – The road map to safeguard the public finances The substantial market correction which had its beginnings late September continued during the early part of October but managed a last minute gain on the back of the surprise Bank of Japan announcement at month end that it was to substantially increase its quantitative easing programme. Read the full article  

Global – The year of the goat or the bear? August saw global equity markets reeling under the impact of a totally unexpected Yuan devaluation which triggered significant volatility as well as a major sell-off. The dramatic slide in the grossly overvalued Shanghai Composite Index created investor panic in China and in spite of intervention by the authorities the slide continued. Risk off became the order of the day across all the world’s major markets. Read the full article Domestic – “Markets take the stairs up and the elevator down” – Wall Street adage The South African economy faced almost a perfect storm in August with commodity prices falling rapidly, the currency heading for all-time lows, electricity supply constrained and continued demands from labour for above –inflation wage increases. Against this background and with volatility at record levels, no stock market escaped the Chinese led rout and not surprisingly the JSE/ALSI closed down 4% at... Read More

Global – The year of the goat or the bear? August saw global equity markets reeling under the impact of a totally unexpected Yuan devaluation which triggered significant volatility as well as a major sell-off. The dramatic slide in the grossly overvalued Shanghai Composite Index created investor panic in China and in spite of intervention by the authorities the slide continued. Risk off became the order of the day across all the world’s major markets. Read the full article Domestic – “Markets take the stairs up and the elevator down” – Wall Street adage   The South African economy faced almost a perfect storm in August with commodity prices falling rapidly, the currency heading for all-time lows, electricity supply constrained and continued demands from labour for above –inflation wage increases. Read the full article  

Global In spite of concerns over a possible Greek default and subsequent exit from the Euro as well as the declining growth rate of the Chinese economy, developed markets continued to deliver positive returns in July aided by a constant fall in oil prices. Unfortunately emerging markets did not fare as well registering negative returns with currency weakness exerting even further downward pressure. Read the full article Domestic The JSE reacted, along with global markets, to the Greek monetary crisis but more importantly came under severe pressure from not only a sharp decline in commodity prices but also a sharp fall-off in demand from a slowing Chinese economy. In spite of the local currency trading at a 14 year low at R12.65/$, it did little to prevent resource stocks from being hammered. Read the full article  

Global In spite of concerns over a possible Greek default and subsequent exit from the Euro as well as the declining growth rate of the Chinese economy, developed markets continued to deliver positive returns in July aided by a constant fall in oil prices. Unfortunately emerging markets did not fare as well registering negative returns with currency weakness exerting even further downward pressure. Read the full article Domestic The JSE reacted, along with global markets, to the Greek monetary crisis but more importantly came under severe pressure from not only a sharp decline in commodity prices but also a sharp fall-off in demand from a slowing Chinese economy. In spite of the local currency trading at a 14 year low at R12.65/$, it did little to prevent resource stocks from being hammered. Read the full article  

Global – Do global markets need a QE reality check? Global equities managed a positive return for the month in dollar terms with U.S. markets reaching all-time highs before slipping back on a plethora of disappointing macro-economic data which suggested that U.S. economic recovery was faltering. The S&P 500 returned 1.29%, amid posting an all-time high during the month. Investors continued to view equities as the preferred investment option in spite of stretched valuations as bonds and cash delivered record low returns. Read the full article Domestic (sell in May and go away?) The saying has perhaps an element of truth in it as the local stock market came under considerable pressure at month end with the JSE/ALSI closing lower on nine consecutive occasions eventually closing down 3.95% in total return terms. Key economic indicators released in May resulted in increased market volatility with the ALSI 30 day volatility increasing from 10.43 to 11.20. Read the... Read More

Do Global Markets need a QE Reality Check? Global equities managed a positive return for the month in dollar terms with U.S. markets reaching all-time highs before slipping back on a plethora of disappointing macro-economic data which suggested that U.S. economic recovery was faltering. The S&P 500 returned 1.29%, amid posting an all-time high during the month. Investors continued to view equities as the preferred investment option in spite of stretched valuations as bonds and cash delivered record low returns. Read the full article Domestic (Sell in May and go away?) The saying has perhaps an element of truth in it as the local stock market came under considerable pressure at month end with the JSE/ALSI closing lower on nine consecutive occasions eventually closing down 3.95% in total return terms. Key economic indicators released in May resulted in increased market volatility with the ALSI 30 day volatility increasing from 10.43 to 11.20. Read the... Read More