The JSE opened weaker on Thursday following Human Rights Day on Wednesday, as upbeat trade in miners and banks were offset by a sharp fall in Naspers. Naspers plummeted more than 5% in early trade, after Chinese internet company Tencent, of which Naspers owns about a third, missed its fourth-quarter revenue targets. Tencent on Wednesday reported a 98% rise in quarterly net profit to end-December, beating estimates. But revenues rose a slower than expected 51%. The market showed little reaction to the US Federal Reserve’s increase in interest rates to 1.75% on Wednesday. However, a less hawkish outlook from the Fed tripped the dollar. "Fed policy makers reiterated a total of three interest rate increases this year, and comments were made regarding steeper hikes over the next two years," analysts at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) said. The rand gained in response ahead of Moody’s credit rating review on Friday. Analysts are cautiously optimistic that Moody’s will not a...
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