JSE likely to follow Asian stocks higher
Asian equities took US President Donald Trump’s snubbing a meeting of the region’s leaders in Singapore in their stride
Asian stocks took US President Donald Trump’s snubbing a meeting of the region's leaders in Singapore in their stride on Friday morning. The JSE, which broke a five-day losing streak on Thursday by rising 0.28%, looks likely to be led higher by Naspers and BHP. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.33%, with Tencent, Naspers’s main asset, gaining 0.83% to HK$290.40. Sydney’s ASX 200 was up 0.24%, with BHP — which is also the JSE top 40’s second-largest constituent — up 1.64% to A$32.56. Thursday’s Brexit drama led the rand to strengthen from R18.71/£ to R18.05/£, and there is plenty of political turmoil to keep markets volatile on Friday.
The rand was trading at R14.18/$, R16.08/€ and R18.14/£ at 7am. A senior Trump administration official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that a document the Chinese government had sent in response to a request from the US government was unlikely to ease trade tensions between the countries. “The Chinese document included 142 items divided...
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