The JSE reversed earlier losses to close higher on Thursday, buoyed by global equity markets, which gained on revised growth prospects for the eurozone economy. In late trade, the euro leapt against the dollar, and the JSE gained, after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi left the bank’s bond-buying programme unchanged. While revising growth forecasts upwards, Draghi failed to provide details on when the bank would start reducing its stimulus. The prospects of longer-than-expected liquidity in global markets was, however, offset by gloomy local data, which underlined the extent to which SA’s growth outlook is diverging from that of the rest of the world. Local data was disappointing, with both mining production numbers and manufacturing data for July coming in weaker than expected. While mining production has shown some improvement this year compared to 2016, it comes off a low base. Without this statistical distortion, mining production would have contracted this year, sai...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.