It was not a good week for global equity investors with the Emerging Market Index down 2.4%, the S&P 500 down 5% and the small US cap Russell 2000 off nearly 7% by the weekend. The SA component of the MSCI EM Index fared relatively well and was 1.5% weaker in US dollars. The rand investor on the JSE suffered only marginal weakness with Industrials up 2% and Resources off a little more than 2%. The rand ended the week nearly 5% weaker vs the USD and on a trade weighted basis.
Month: May 2009
No room for complacency about the state of the SA economy – aggressive policy action is called for
Grim news from the shop keepers
Retail sales statistics were updated yesterday 13 May. The state of the retail sector in March 2009 provides no comfort at all about the state of the SA economy. The statistics indicate that sales adjusted for inflation are still falling at an accelerating rate. Interpreting retail activity is always complicated by the Easter holidays that may come in March or April, as they did this year. We will need to wait for the April numbers to fully adjust for Easter.