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Port Elizabeth - The JSE is set for an exciting start on Monday morning to play catch-up with international markets after the whole of SA shut down to celebrate Human Rights day.
The JSE ended the short week on a weak note after recent record highs, while international markets gained quite sharply while we were playing on Friday.
It is reasonable to expect shares to open up quite strong on Monday. But then the spectre of another possible interest rate increase on Thursday might make investors nervous.
It seemed that commodity shares took the brunt of the selling pressure last week on continued subdued economic figures from China, which continued to depress commodity prices and volumes.
Shares in all the mining and commodity sectors - from chemicals to forestry, mining and industrial minerals - declined by a few percent during the last week.
Only platinum shares were somewhat stronger, bouncing off the recent lows. However, it is way to early to expect a sharp recovery as the damaging strikes at platinum mines are still far from resolved.
Industrial counters fared somewhat better, with the ratio between advanced and declines more in balance. Shares that achieved solid gains included Bidvest [JSE:BVT] which added another 2.5% and Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS] which increased by 3.2%.
Shares of other food producers and general retailers also increased after recent losses, despite less than rosy economic figures.
StatsSA reported last week that inflation increased to 5.9% in February compared to 5.5% in January while a survey of building activity also showed that the building industry in SA is still under pressure.
Banks and financial shares also had a satisfactory week.
MTN Group [JSE:MTN] and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] increased on the news that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) buckled under the pressure of the court action by the two big cellular providers that seek to prevent Icasa from reducing certain cellular charges to consumers.
The week ahead
Market participants will have to put on their economic thinking caps this week. The Reserve Bank will announce its index of leading economic indicators this week, of which a few of the components individually were quite strong during the last month, such as new car sales. Others, such as retail sales and business confidence surveys, were quite subdued.
StatsSA will publsih the producer price inflation figures for February. It is once again expected to be quite high and feed inton consumer inflation a month or two later.
The Reserve Bank might increase interest rates after the conclusion of its monetary policy committee meeting on Thursday.
Even if governor Gill Marcus does not announce an increase in the repo rate, she is likely to have little but good news for consumers and investors alike.
The JSE ended the short week on a weak note after recent record highs, while international markets gained quite sharply while we were playing on Friday.
It is reasonable to expect shares to open up quite strong on Monday. But then the spectre of another possible interest rate increase on Thursday might make investors nervous.
It seemed that commodity shares took the brunt of the selling pressure last week on continued subdued economic figures from China, which continued to depress commodity prices and volumes.
Shares in all the mining and commodity sectors - from chemicals to forestry, mining and industrial minerals - declined by a few percent during the last week.
Only platinum shares were somewhat stronger, bouncing off the recent lows. However, it is way to early to expect a sharp recovery as the damaging strikes at platinum mines are still far from resolved.
Industrial counters fared somewhat better, with the ratio between advanced and declines more in balance. Shares that achieved solid gains included Bidvest [JSE:BVT] which added another 2.5% and Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS] which increased by 3.2%.
Shares of other food producers and general retailers also increased after recent losses, despite less than rosy economic figures.
StatsSA reported last week that inflation increased to 5.9% in February compared to 5.5% in January while a survey of building activity also showed that the building industry in SA is still under pressure.
Banks and financial shares also had a satisfactory week.
MTN Group [JSE:MTN] and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] increased on the news that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) buckled under the pressure of the court action by the two big cellular providers that seek to prevent Icasa from reducing certain cellular charges to consumers.
The week ahead
Market participants will have to put on their economic thinking caps this week. The Reserve Bank will announce its index of leading economic indicators this week, of which a few of the components individually were quite strong during the last month, such as new car sales. Others, such as retail sales and business confidence surveys, were quite subdued.
StatsSA will publsih the producer price inflation figures for February. It is once again expected to be quite high and feed inton consumer inflation a month or two later.
The Reserve Bank might increase interest rates after the conclusion of its monetary policy committee meeting on Thursday.
Even if governor Gill Marcus does not announce an increase in the repo rate, she is likely to have little but good news for consumers and investors alike.
