The JSE was weaker on Thursday as caution about the long-term effects of the coronavirus and US-China trade war weigh on investor sentiment.
The markets may be pricing in far too much complacency, as the US-China “phase 1” trade deal could be at risk, with China facing challenges fulfilling its trade commitment, AxiCorp chief global markets strategist Stephen Innes said.
Global equities were buoyed this week as governments gradually loosened lockdown restrictions, but many investors remain wary of the outlook as a raft of data suggested a full-blown recovery was likely to be some way off.
At 11.52pm, the JSE all-share had lost 0.62% to 51,819.12 points and the top-40 was 0.72% down. Platinum miners had lost 2.48% and the gold mining index 3.31%.