The JSE opened weaker on Friday in choppy trade as Naspers lost ground, while Anglo American and BHP lifted mining stocks.Platinum stocks were higher, despite a flat metal price and marginally weaker rand.The rand was at R12.3620 to the dollar after firming to R12.30 in overnight trade.The Dow closed 0.8% higher on Thursday, with Apple hitting another high. Asian markets were firmer with the Nikkei 225 up 1.16% and the Hang Seng 0.95%.Escalating trade tensions with China do not yet pose a major threat to the US economy, analysts at Capital Economics said."Despite the weaker first quarter we still expect the fiscal stimulus to help drive an acceleration in US GDP growth to 2.8% this year," they said.According to Capital Economics, the US Federal Reserve was likely to hike interest rates three more times by year-end, with core inflation now on the rise.However, they think the US economy will slow sharply from mid-2019 onwards, prompting the Fed to loosen policy in 2020.Locally, sentim...
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