Share prices on the JSE continued to drift mostly sideways on
Thursday morning as the latest minutes of the Federal Reserve’s open
market committee did not shed much light on future movements in US
interest rates.
Investors were also waiting for the outcome of the
South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy meeting which ends later
in the day for indications of what will happen with local interest rates
later this year.
Imara SP Reid said in its daily Market Snapshot that Wednesday’s Fed statement mostly confirmed the notion that policy adjustment would be “data dependent” in the weeks and months ahead.
“On balance the tone of the statement suggested that a potential interest rate hike was likely to be later rather than earlier. For the moment 'lower for longer' remains the dominant interpretation of the near-term interest-rate trajectory,” it said.
This could be positive for the domestic market, which depends on foreign investors chasing higher yields in emerging markets like South Africa.
By midday the All-Share index was only 0.04% lower at 54 171 points, trading in a narrow range of about 0.25%. The Top 40-index was again below 48 000 and 0.08% lower than on Wednesday at 47 957 points. Imara SP Reid said the index could soon test the support level of 48 700 points.
The Industrial (-0.27%) and Financial (-0.25%) indices were both moderately lower, but the Resources index bounced back from two days of losses to trade 1.42% higher.
Analysts said the Resources index currently presents good trading opportunities and some volatility can be expected as role players engage in some profit-taking and bargain hunting. Gold was also 1.12% higher.
The market is currently also influenced by company results and other corporate activity.The financial sector paid a great deal of attention to Investec’s full-year results and the banking group reported a 10.2% rise in full-year profit on Thursday, helped by a strong showing at its asset management and lending businesses. The share price rose 0.80% to R116.90.
Imara SP Reid said in its daily Market Snapshot that Wednesday’s Fed statement mostly confirmed the notion that policy adjustment would be “data dependent” in the weeks and months ahead.
“On balance the tone of the statement suggested that a potential interest rate hike was likely to be later rather than earlier. For the moment 'lower for longer' remains the dominant interpretation of the near-term interest-rate trajectory,” it said.
This could be positive for the domestic market, which depends on foreign investors chasing higher yields in emerging markets like South Africa.
By midday the All-Share index was only 0.04% lower at 54 171 points, trading in a narrow range of about 0.25%. The Top 40-index was again below 48 000 and 0.08% lower than on Wednesday at 47 957 points. Imara SP Reid said the index could soon test the support level of 48 700 points.
The Industrial (-0.27%) and Financial (-0.25%) indices were both moderately lower, but the Resources index bounced back from two days of losses to trade 1.42% higher.
Analysts said the Resources index currently presents good trading opportunities and some volatility can be expected as role players engage in some profit-taking and bargain hunting. Gold was also 1.12% higher.
The market is currently also influenced by company results and other corporate activity.The financial sector paid a great deal of attention to Investec’s full-year results and the banking group reported a 10.2% rise in full-year profit on Thursday, helped by a strong showing at its asset management and lending businesses. The share price rose 0.80% to R116.90.
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