The local market beat global markets at the start of the week, closing up by 0.27% after gains in the industrial sector. However, the rand continued to trade above the $18/USD psychological level at 17h45.
Wall Street opened the week flat as traders waited for a slew of earnings reports and economic data expected later this week. “So far, quarterly reports from corporate America have indicated that companies are holding up well against macro headwinds like persistent inflation and rising interest rates. Now, all eyes turn to mega-cap names, including Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), scheduled to announce their results later this week,” Trading Economics added.
Major European markets closed slightly in the green as “investors braced for a week packed with earnings from major European banks and consumer companies, such as Barclays (LON:BARC), Santander (BME:SAN), Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn), UBS (SIX:UBSG), embattled Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN), Nestle (SIX:NESN) and Unilever (LON:ULVR). On the data front, German business climate indicator rose for a sixth straight month in April to the highest level for over a year, but came in slightly below market expectations,” reported Trading Economics.
Most Asian markets closed in the red on Monday after “concerns grew about another coronavirus outbreak in China as the country prepared for the May day holidays. Local media said that the mainland saw a slight increase in Covid positivity rate in early April, while health experts warned about the risk of imported variants due to the gradual reopening and the booming domestic travel since the start of the year,” reported Trading Economics.
Gold traded at $1 982.72 an ounce at 17h50, while a barrel of Brent crude traded at $82.67 a barrel at the same time.
