SA stocks and bonds post annual gains despite turbulent 2020

SA equities and bonds posted unlikely annual gains while the rand weakened only marginally in 2020, despite a year of unprecedented volatility marked by sovereign credit downgrades, policy stasis, a pandemic and the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

The JSE ended 2020 up 4.1%, its second consecutive annual gain, while SA’s benchmark 10-year bond due on January 31 2030 posted an annual advance with the yield on the security 28 basis points lower than its closing price on the final day of 2019...