JSE gets good start on Friday, helped by weaker rand
Banks and insurance stocks held up reasonably well, as did retailers, despite the weaker rand environment
The JSE was off to a positive start on Friday, putting it on track to snap a two-week losing run.The all share was up 0.62% to 56,625.30 points, outperforming some its counterparts in Europe. The weaker rand environment did the trick, helping mining stocks by softening the effect of weaker commodity prices. Big industrial stocks were also higher on the day.The rand hovered at about R13.50/$ in midmorning trade, from R13.16/$ at the start of the week, hurt mainly by a strong dollar.Banks and insurance stocks held up reasonably well, as did retailers, despite the weaker rand environment. The sectors tend to be sensitive to the rand-dollar exchange rate because of its potential effect on inflation and interest rates.As widely expected, the Reserve Bank left interest rates on hold at 6.5% on Thursday, as its monetary policy committee weighed the effect of rising inflation and a sluggish domestic economic backdrop.PPS Investments portfolio manager Luigi Marinus said the downward revision...
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