JSE weakens, led by property, and local environment remains gloomy
Global markets are buoyant on trade talk optimism, while a ratings downgrade of Hyprop weighs on the JSE’s property index
The JSE was weaker on Wednesday morning, failing to track positive global markets, which were benefiting from US-China trade war developments. Most Asian markets were at least 1% higher on Wednesday morning, but local factors, including load-shedding, continued to negatively affect domestic sentiment. At 10am the all share was down 0.25% to 53,824.2 points and the top 40 down 0.28%. Property lost 1.9% and industrials 0.57%. Hyprop Investments slumped 5.63% to R83.40. Earlier, it said Moody's had lowered its investment grade to junk status, citing debt-funded acquisitions in Eastern Europe that had increased its debt-to-asset ratio to 41% as of June 2018. US President Donald Trump has indicated that a March 1 deadline for a trade deal with China is not set in stone. Trump said on Tuesday that if Chinese negotiators made sufficient concessions this week, new tariffs may not be implemented even if a new deal is not reached. US markets closed higher on Tuesday, also bolstered by news th...
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