Emerging market volatility peaks amid the Middle East crisis, which saw Brent crude jump almost 25% to $115 a barrel overnight from Sunday.
South Africa’s main bourse, the Sandton-based Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), had a terrible week with seesaws in the market seeing it close almost 3% down on Friday, taking its total slide for the week to more than 9.2%.
The benchmark FTSE/JSE All Share Index (Alsi) has plummeted from a high of 128 455 points (end February) to 116 583. On Monday, the slide continued with the JSE trading almost 1% down, around 115 533 points just before 11am.
This means the JSE has now wiped out its 2026 gains year to date. The Middle East conflict, which has seen the oil price spiral to over $115 a barrel (jumping over almost 25% overnight from Sunday), is largely to blame.
Last week’s JSE plunge wiped over R2 trillion off the overall market capitalisation of Africa’s biggest bourse.
On 2 January (the first day of trading in 2026), the JSE closed at 116 091 points. The markets surged on the back of the gold and platinum rally until the end of February, when US President Donald Trump commenced US-Israel led airstrikes on Iran.
This has thrown the Middle East into crisis, with Iran retaliating against its neighbours, including global aviation hubs Dubai and Qatar, which saw airspace in the region being closed for most of last week.
Iran backed off a little this weekend, but the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz has piled pressure on oil and gas prices.
The JSE plunged over 5.5% on Tuesday, after opening weaker on Monday (2 March). While it recovered some losses on Wednesday, Friday’s sharp fall saw it trade well below the psychological 120 000-points mark.
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All eyes will be on the markets and the oil price on Monday as global markets open.
The oil price spiral and market fallout continued on Monday morning.
On Friday, Sasol jumped over 4.3% on spiralling Brent crude prices, and its surge continued on Monday, jumping over 9% in morning trade.
Sasol has now surged over 57% year-to-date.
It was one of just three JSE Top 40 stocks to close stronger on Friday – the others being Reinet Investments (up 3.3%) and Prosus, up marginally by 0.4%.
The big losers in Top 40 were largely mining stocks and big banks:
- Anglo American: -6.35%
- FirstRand: -6.23%
- Capitec: -5.89%
- Absa: -5.86%
- Glencore: -5.15%
- Standard Bank: -4.99%
- Pan African Resources: -4.47%
- AngloGold Ashanti: -3.66%
Thungela Resources (not in the Top 40) hit a 52-week high, while Spar, Sappi and TFG fell to 52-week lows.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
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