Local equities weathered the storm fairly well on Friday, except platinum stocks which plunged 2%, reports Nico Kelder, economist at the Efficient Group.
The currency set off on a new rollercoaster ride after the close of local markets and weakened by almost 2% against the greenback and pound, while finding some strength against the euro.
The dollar made gains against the euro and the yen. Bond yields rose on Friday as higher interest rates become more likely. Gold and platinum dropped a few dollars (losing around 2% each) as the dollar strengthened and oil continued its upward march. European markets closed slightly lower while US markets came tumbling down by more than 1%.
Markets in the Far East continued this negative trend: the Nikkei lost 3.6-percent and the Hang Seng slightly better off with a loss of 2.8%.
The assassination of the leader of Chechnya over the weekend will heighten fears of terror attacks weighing, already depressed, markets down even more. We expect the markets to trade lower today.
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