This week wrapped a strong month of November for equities globally and set what we hope would be the tone for the month of December. On global markets, positive coronavirus vaccine news and emerging political certainty in the U.S. have added to the feeling of back to normalcy and prompted strong gains across the world, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up about 12% for November, the biggest monthly gain since February 1987.
African equities enjoyed a strong performance last month and ended the first week of December in green overall, echoing the positive sentiment that prevailed on markets globally. The prospect of a stimulus deal in the U.S. to shore up the economy added to the positive news that the U.K. became the first western country to approve temporary emergency use for Pfizer’s vaccine.
Notable performance in Nairobi (+3.36%) was followed by an equally significant rise in Johannesburg (+2.76%), where the JSE all share closed at 59,419.37 points, its best level since August 2018. Other major markets such as Casablanca, Lagos, and Cairo also had a strong week gaining 0.81%, 0.72%, and 0.31% respectively.
Year-to-date, most African markets remain down so far this year and have not recovered from the sell-off in March, with the notable exceptions of Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Both markets are significantly up this year both in local and foreign currencies.
