Uncertainty dominates
Market sentiment turned from negative to positive at the start of the year, but much is still unsettled, writes Petri Redelinghuys
During the final quarter of last year some negativity appeared in global markets. There were musings about emerging markets being out of favour due to a larger set of issues in the developed world. These larger issues included the ongoing trade war between the US and China, the ever looming uncertainty of Brexit, rising debt levels and tightening monetary policy in the US and Europe, as well as "flight to safety" and investment flows away from emerging markets. These factors were combined with a host of local economic issues that at the time included the waning of Ramaphoria — the positive effect that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s rise to leadership of the ANC and SA had on local markets — ever increasing unemployment, lower consumer spending and confidence, a brief technical recession and the variety of issues caused by rampant corruption. These all culminated at the end of 2018, and markets around the world recorded the worst December in many years. Market commentators and analysts ...
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