JSE poised for positive session in line with global peers

The JSE will most likely move higher on Thursday, joining its counterparts in Asia, where risk appetite was palpable.

The rand, which is a proxy of risk sentiment, was back below the psychological level of R15/$ in early trade. Brent crude eased slightly but remained above the $80-a-barrel mark.

Optimism of a US debt ceiling deal boosted sentiment on Wall Street, which carried through to Asian markets.

“Wall Street has become a roller-coaster ride as investors try to navigate through inflationary pressures, debt ceiling drama that everyone knows will eventually be resolved, and as global central banks start to deliver fastening tightening cycles,” said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Oanda.

On the JSE, hotel and leisure stocks have been the flavour of the week amid optimism that UK could soon remove SA from its red list of travel destinations. Sun International was up about 19% this week while City Lodge was up 15% over the same period.

Electricity shortages in China due to coal shortages have also boosted JSE coal stocks, with Exxaro Resources gaining 14% this week.

However, other commodity prices such as precious metals continue to be under significant pressure on a trend basis, affected in part by a strong dollar and chip shortages in the case of platinum group metals.

Platinum was down 1.20% to 976.28/oz in early trade, while gold shed 0.28% to $1,757.45/oz. 

mahlangua@businesslive.co.za