Sanlam Private Wealth Morning Digest 03 August 2021

Local Markets

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange opened stronger yesterday, but slipped through the day to close in the red marginally as index heavyweights Naspers and its subsidiary Prosus lost some early gains. The sentiment was largely "risk-off" on Monday amid the profit-taking as worries over the Delta variant of the coronavirus, and concerns around global inflation kept sentiments in check. The benchmark all-share index closed down 0.21% to 68,882 points and the blue-chip index of the top 40 companies ended lower by 0.24% to 62,704 points.

American Markets

US stocks gave up early gains and turned negative for the session on Monday as concerns about Covid variants and peaking economic growth weighed against strong earnings results. Yesterday`s weak performance for stocks came as Treasury yields and oil prices dipped, signalling that some investors may be concerned about economic growth even as earnings results show strength. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to around 1.17%, putting it near its recent lows from mid-July. Yields move inverse to prices.