JOHANNESBURG, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The following political event, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Thursday.
POLITICAL EVENT
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to answer lawmakers’ questions in parliament.
SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS
South Africa’s rand held onto its gains on Wednesday, as domestic retail sales rose in August, indicating an improvement in consumer sentiment.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index closed 0.62% higher.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares gave back early gains on Thursday as a housing policy briefing in China underwhelmed investors, while the dollar stood near 2-1/2 month highs on the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.
WALL STREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Wednesday and closed at a record high, and Wall Street’s two other benchmark indexes also ended higher, weathering declines in megacap tech shares thanks to small-caps gains and financial shares buoyed by strong earnings.
GOLD
Gold rose on Thursday to hover near record levels, underpinned by uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election and expectations of more rate cuts by major central banks, while investors looked forward to a slew of U.S. data for further direction.
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Some of the main stories out in the South African press:
BUSINESS DAY
– Medicines regulator urges Treasury to step up its funding
– Presidency upbeat on hitting 3% growth by 2025 with stable GNU
– SA carmakers call for hybrid-car production incentives
(Compiled by Tannur Anders)
