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PSG daily investment update 24 April 2019
Date: 24 April 2019 Category: Stock Market |
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In our continued efforts to give our readers a broad number of views, opinions and information, we continue to provide PSG's daily market updates and add our own daily rant at the end.
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Short summary of PSG's market commentary for 24 April 2019
South Africa
The JSE closed in the green on its first day of trading for the week thanks to rand hedges and Sasol, which rose on higher Brent crude prices and a softer rand, while interest rate-sensitive shares weighed on the market.
United States
US markets were boosted when they opened on Tuesday by tech shares and positive earnings reports from powerhouses such as Coca-Cola and Twitter. Just after the JSE closed, the Dow Jones was 0.47% higher.
Europe
A surge in oil prices pushed energy shares, causing European markets to close in the green on Tuesday. At the end of trade, the STOXX 600 was up 0.23%.
Hong Kong
Although the energy sector surged on Tuesday, the Hang Seng closed the day 0.25% down as the real estate sector weighed heavily on Asian markets.
Japan
The Japanese index rose slightly on Tuesday due to the declaration by the US to end all waivers on Iranian oil imports this week, which caused oil-related shares to rise. The Nikkei ended the day 0.19% higher.
Rand
The local currency continued to lose steam on Tuesday after it came to light on Friday that the South African government was forced to bail Eskom out with up to R5 billion. At 23h20, the rand traded R14.27 against the dollar and R18.46 against the pound.
Precious metals
Bullion prices dropped somewhat on Tuesday, as the dollar strengthened and investors started to embrace riskier trade once again. At 23h20, an ounce of spot gold was trading at $1 272.45.
Oil
Oil prices reached its highest level since November 2019 on Tuesday as the US announced to end all waivers on Iranian oil imports, tightening supply further. At 23h30, a barrel of Brent crude was trading at $74.53.
The JSE closed in the green on its first day of trading for the week thanks to rand hedges and Sasol, which rose on higher Brent crude prices and a softer rand, while interest rate-sensitive shares weighed on the market.
United States
US markets were boosted when they opened on Tuesday by tech shares and positive earnings reports from powerhouses such as Coca-Cola and Twitter. Just after the JSE closed, the Dow Jones was 0.47% higher.
Europe
A surge in oil prices pushed energy shares, causing European markets to close in the green on Tuesday. At the end of trade, the STOXX 600 was up 0.23%.
Hong Kong
Although the energy sector surged on Tuesday, the Hang Seng closed the day 0.25% down as the real estate sector weighed heavily on Asian markets.
Japan
The Japanese index rose slightly on Tuesday due to the declaration by the US to end all waivers on Iranian oil imports this week, which caused oil-related shares to rise. The Nikkei ended the day 0.19% higher.
Rand
The local currency continued to lose steam on Tuesday after it came to light on Friday that the South African government was forced to bail Eskom out with up to R5 billion. At 23h20, the rand traded R14.27 against the dollar and R18.46 against the pound.
Precious metals
Bullion prices dropped somewhat on Tuesday, as the dollar strengthened and investors started to embrace riskier trade once again. At 23h20, an ounce of spot gold was trading at $1 272.45.
Oil
Oil prices reached its highest level since November 2019 on Tuesday as the US announced to end all waivers on Iranian oil imports, tightening supply further. At 23h30, a barrel of Brent crude was trading at $74.53.
Our daily update
Yesterday we covered the latest monetary policy review presentation released by the South African Reserve Bank and what it says about the state of the global economy, South Africa's economy and the forecast for South Africa's inflation rate and interest rates. The image below shows the expectations of Emerging Market central banks regarding whether they will hike, hold or cut rates over the course of 2019 (right hand bar chart), and the current inflation rate of emerging markets (the left hand line graphic). See the full article here.
EM central banks mixed in terms of monetary policy
The worrying for South Africans is the fact that they highlighted (as we did the other day in this article), the fact that South Africans are saving less and less and more debt is being taken on not only by consumers in South Africa but by government too. See the image below.
South Africa's net savings declining and SA government debt ballooning
Our JSE All Share index daily performance calendar
Visit our JSE Calendar tracker page for a expanded version of the calendar below
The graphic below provides the daily returns of the JSE All Share Index (J203) on a calendar chart. Provides a great overview of the All share index over the course of the month. It will be updated daily with our daily investment update as received from PSG.
So the JSE All Share Index has increased by almost 5.35% for the month of April 2019. This is by far the strongest showing of any of the months of 2019 and the JSE All Share Index looks set to provide investors with four straight months of positive returns. See our 2019 Calendar tracker for more.
But we as South African investors are losing out in Dollar terms. Largely due to continued Rand weakness not only over the short term but over the last couple of years. We continue to advise investors to take money out of South Africa and invest it offshore. Looking for ideas for investments to make? Go read this article
But we as South African investors are losing out in Dollar terms. Largely due to continued Rand weakness not only over the short term but over the last couple of years. We continue to advise investors to take money out of South Africa and invest it offshore. Looking for ideas for investments to make? Go read this article