Globally, there has been a consecutive rise in the value of stocks as the media projected Biden’s win in the on-going elections in the United States. Stocks around the world have experienced a rise in their value for the past six days, and Africa and South Africa, in particular, has not been left out in this move.
Stock Experts have attributed this rise in stock values to the growing certainty of Joe Biden’s victory in the US elections. Joe Biden has long reached the 270 electoral votes required for success in the polls in the US. Although the entire electoral process is yet to be concluded, the omen trailing the victory so far is believed to be driving the value of stocks globally.
Bloomberg reports that “South Africa’s main stock gauge joined global peers in rising for the sixth consecutive day, as investors cheered the optimism about the outlook under a Joe Biden US presidency”. The FTSE/JSE Africa all shares saw 1.4% in stocks. This is unarguably the highest intraday rise in African stocks since the 27th of August in the year under review.
The executive director at Peregrine Treasury Solutions, Bianca Botes in an email has this to say about the markets: “The Joe Biden win saw risk assets gain momentum, with markets banking on more stability while a divided congress will still ensure low-interest rates for longer and potential fiscal stimulus”.
In summary, here are a few highlights of the South African market for the period under review:
- “Foreigners were not buyers of South African Stocks for a second day Friday, halting, purchasing 666 million Rand worth of shares”. This report is according to the exchange operator, JSE Ltd.
- Gains in the Rand lifted the index for bank stocks by 2.4%
- Food and drug sellers were up by 1.9% while general retailers rose by 1.3%
- However, healthcare stocks saw a dip by as much as 9.5%. This constitutes the largest decline in healthcare stocks since the 23rd of March.
