JSE opens weaker as banks gain on rand
Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were buoyed on hopes Beijing and Washington would reach a deal in the latest round of trade talks
The JSE opened lower in cautious trade on Friday despite higher Asian markets, with platinums and industrials on the back foot.However, banks and retailers gained on a slightly firmer rand. The rand was at R12.5164 to the dollar from R12.5994 at the opening.The Dow slipped 0.22% on Thursday with escalating trade tensions and rising oil prices weighing on markets. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.4% on Friday morning and the Hang Seng 0.49%.Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were buoyed on hopes that Beijing and Washington would reach a deal in the latest round of trade talks, analysts at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking said.Tencent rose 0.6% in Hong Kong trade, but Naspers, which owns 31.2% of the Chinese game-downloading group, showed little reaction.Weaker commodity prices weighed on the Australian ASX, with BHP and Rio Tinto both losing more than 1.5%.Momentum Securities analysts said upbeat earnings in the US were still a vibrant driver of equity performance, even as the over...
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