Joy Immelman (Main Author)

In short, gains on the JSE reversed YTD losses.

Looking abroad, global markets ended on a positive note with global equities rallying strongly.  The reasons behind this trend as follows:

The USD has strengthened considerably, as it does in times of trouble – demonstrating its safe haven status.  There are currently several global concerns overshadowing the markets, namely: 

• In May, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) raised the Repo rate (Repurchase Rate) by a further 50bps to 4.75%.   The SARB last adjusted interest rates on 24 March. Notably, since November 2021, the Repo rate has increased by a total of 125bps.  South Africa’s prime interest rate should now increase to 8.25%.

We’ve had a volatile start to the year, to put it mildly!

Let’s look at the key events driving market movements…

The Rand has gained almost 10% against the USD in 2022.

Let’s look at the driving factors…