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Picture: MICHAEL ETTERSHANK
Picture: MICHAEL ETTERSHANK

The JSE hovered around the highest level since February 2023 on Monday, with global markets firmer as focus this week falls on minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) recent monetary meeting.

Meanwhile, investors are watching the commodity markets closely amid renewed jitters over geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of the country. The incident came at a time of turmoil in the region as a result of the war in Gaza between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas.

Also in the commodities market, gold and silver are higher while copper surged to a new record in anticipation of supply shortages, reported Bloomberg.

“The week is kicking off with a rally in precious metals, including gold, as the commodities trade at record highs,” said Citadel Global director Bianca Botes.

“In addition to the broader rally, gold is also benefiting from bets that the Fed will cut rates this year, along with increased caution around ongoing instability in the Middle East following the crash of the helicopter transporting the Iranian president over the weekend,” added Botes.

The JSE all share gained 0.68% to 80,073 points and the top 40 was up 0.71%.

The precious metals and mining index rose 2.45%, while industrial metals added 0.83%.

Market participants will get further commentary from Fed officials this week as the outlook for inflation and the timing of interest rate cuts is the dominant theme. 

At 5.50pm, the Dow Jones Industrial average was 0.15% firmer at 40,064 points, and the S&P 500 added 0.38%. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was little changed, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.35% and Germany’s DAX 0.33%.

The rand touched the best levels since December on the day, firming R18.1088/$. At 6pm, the rand had weakened 0.17% to R18.1940/$, 0.15% to R19.7605/€ and 0.26% to R23.1340/£. The euro was unchanged at $1.0862.

“The rand has a lot of negative news priced in and is currently trading at the year-to-date low against the dollar, currently mostly driven by the improved sentiment”, said TreasuryONE currency strategist Andre Cilliers.

“Momentum however does seem to be getting stretched for the rand to sustain further gains, but this does provide a good opportunity for importers to hedge exposures over the upcoming period which holds a lot of uncertainty [such as local elections],” added Cilliers.

Gold gained 0.43% to $2,424.38/oz, while platinum lost 2.78% to $1,064.10/oz. Brent crude was 0.47% weaker at $83.61 a barrel.

tsobol@businesslive.co.za

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