South African futures post modest gains as Dow opens marginally positive
South African futures were fractionally higher on Friday as the Dow was only just in positive territory shortly after opening, while the JSE closed very slightly lower.Retail, banking and financial shares came under the most pressure on the JSE following the decision by the Reserve Bank on Thursday to leave the repo rate unchanged at 6.75%.About a third of analysts polled had expected a cut of 25 basis points as the rand has strengthened significantly since the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the ANC’s new president in mid-December.The stronger rand helps lower inflation, but as the Bank’s governor Lesetja Kganyago highlighted, the economy still faced a number of risk events.Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is set to deliver the annual budget speech in Parliament on February 21. In his medium-term budget policy statement in October last year, Gigaba highlighted a R50bn budget deficit, without detailing any plans to resolve the issue.Rating agency Moody’s is set to announce the result o...
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.