The JSE is not headed for a particularly sweet Valentine’s day, judging by Asian markets trading ahead of it on Tuesday morning. After a three-day rally fuelled by US President Donald Trump’s promises of "phenomenal" tax cuts on Friday, markets stumbled on Tuesday. Japanese stocks were dragged down by Toshiba’s 8% plunge to ¥230 after it declined to release its results at the scheduled time. The postponement was interpreted as meaning the write-down of its US nuclear power plant building subsidiary will be even worse than anticipated. Singapore fell 1%, while Hong Kong and Sydney both closed flat ahead of the JSE’s opening. The JSE, however, may escape the gloom in Asian markets thanks to the rand strengthening 0.4% to R13.28/$ on Tuesday morning. Kumba Iron Ore added 6.37% on Monday ahead of its results scheduled for release on Tuesday. That followed Friday’s 7.51% rally for the miner. Kumba said in a trading update on January 25 that it expected to report headline earnings per sha...
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