JSE faces tough week as SA begins partial virus shutdown

The JSE is set for a bumpy start to the week, with President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring a state of disaster late on Sunday to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Schools will be closed and gatherings of more than 100 people have been prohibited, with similar initiatives taking place in other countries.

France and Spain have implemented heavy travel restrictions, while in the US various states are implementing lockdown measures.

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates to close to zero in an emergency 100 basis point cut on Sunday.

“With the world now on its way to a global lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the full scale of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on economic activity and everyday life is, at last, being assessed in an honest light,” said Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley in a note.

“From here, a recession now seems inevitable for the world,” he said.

In morning trade on Monday, Asian markets were weaker, with the Australian all ordinaries index down 7.46%, while the Hang Seng had fallen 2.19%.

Gold was up 0.77% to $1,541.47 an ounce while platinum had risen 0.39% to $764.46. Brent crude had slumped 5.42% to $32.83 a barrel.

The rand was 0.28% weaker at R16.3165 a dollar.

Locally, the focus is likely to be on the coronavirus on Monday.

Insurer Old Mutual is expected to report later that adjusted headline earnings per share were boosted by higher shareholder returns in SA during its year to end-December.

gernetzkyk@businesslive.co.za