January saw local markets off to a slow start as they wait patiently to see what the new change in ANC leadership will bring. The US Dollar continued to weaken. The US is unlikely to prevent further weakness as the Trump administration is in favour of a softer greenback in order to support US growth. Emerging market stocks had a strong start to the year as the stock market delivered its best January in six years. Equity markets around the globe saw solid returns this month with most of the indices reaching new heights even though rising bond yields in developed markets caused some volatility.
The FTSE/JSE All Share Index (up 0.1%) had a relatively flat month. Mid-cap stocks (down 0.1%) and small cap stocks (down 0.3%) had a slightly negative January while large cap shares (up 0.2%) managed to deliver slightly positive returns. The Financials sector (down 3.0%) struggled the most this month while Industrials (up 0.4%) remained relatively flat. Resource stocks (up 3.2%) were the top performers in January with Anglo American (up 13.3%) and Impala Platinum (up 12.1%) the top performing stocks in the Top 60. Emerging markets once again outperformed developed markets this month. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned 8.3% in US Dollar terms while the MSCI World returned 5.3% in US Dollar terms. South African Bonds (up 1.9%) was the top performing broad asset class for the month. South African Listed property (down 9.9%) was the worst performing asset class in January, mostly as a result of various rumours surrounding further Viceroy reports on select South African companies. Fortress Income Fund B (-28.7%), NEPI Rockcastle (-24.7%) and Resilient (-23.0%) were some of the large property shares that took the brunt of the negative sentiment. The Rand appreciated 4.1% against the US Dollar and 0.5% against the Euro while depreciating 0.8% against the Pound Sterling. The US Dollar Gold Price (up 2.5%) as well as the US Dollar Platinum Price (up 7.2%) performed ended the month higher. Brent Crude Oil (up 3.3% in US Dollar
terms) also performed well this month.
