After a flat opening on Friday, the JSE gathered momentum in the afternoon to close higher, as risk-on trade took off following the release of weaker-than-expected US jobs data.Naspers led industrials higher, with global miners ending the day firmer amid volatile trade in the dollar, and despite weaker copper prices.Nonfarm payrolls increased by 157,000 in July, below the expected 190,000, and their lowest gain since March.The US unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4%, while average hourly earnings — an important barometer for inflationary pressures in the US — increased 2.7%, unchanged from the previous month.The numbers make it unlikely that the US Federal Reserve will adopt a more hawkish stance for the rest of 2018.Stanlib economist Kevin Lings said the latest US labour market report was disappointing, but not especially problematic, particularly since the previous two months’ data were revised significantly higher. "This, together with solid business activity data, strong confi...
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