The JSE was a little lower on Thursday, but managed to outperform its international peers as it found some relief from a weaker rand. The all share was off 0.18% at 58,218.30 points at lunchtime, with big diversified miners faring worst as a result of lower commodity prices due to a stronger dollar. Financial and banking stocks held up well despite the weaker local currency and higher bond yields, which are usually negative for both sectors. The rand weakened to a low of R11.93 to the dollar for the first time in two weeks, pressured by increased perceptions that US interest rates could increase faster than currently projected. US Federal Reserve chairperson Jerome Powell set the ball rolling with his comments earlier in the week, which suggested the US economy could handle more than the three interest-rate increases that the market is currently projecting for this year. This played out negatively on world equity markets, which are sensitive to increases in interest rates. Peregrine...
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