JSE faces muted Asian markets on Wednesday ahead of Fed decision
Focus is squarely on the US Federal Reserve policy announcement later, but a spate of SA economic reports are due as well
The JSE looks set to open to subdued Asian markets on Wednesday, with caution prevailing ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy announcement later.
Fed officials are expected to announce they are picking up the pace of monetary policy tightening amid elevated inflation, and could signal an interest-rate increase is on its way in 2022.
Domestically, there has been some good news, with the UK removing SA from its travel red list, which could benefit hospitality stocks on the JSE on Wednesday.
In morning trade the Shanghai Composite and Japan’s Nikkei were flat, while the Hang Seng had edged up 0.21%.
Gold was flat at $1,770.90/oz while platinum had fallen 0.31% to $931. Brent crude was 0.41% weaker at $72.92 a barrel.
The corporate calendar is bare, but the day is busy in terms of economic releases with Quarterly Employment Statistics for the third quarter due later.
The Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin should provide further details on SA’s third-quarter economic performance.
Both consumer and producer inflation numbers for November are due later, with consumer inflation expected to accelerate to about 5.5% year on year from 5% in the previous month, while producer inflation is expected to push to almost 9% from 8.1% previously. Both have been driven by record fuel prices, with supply-chain disruptions also taking their toll.