This week’s market rally came to a screeching halt in the US overnight and has followed through into Asia this morning but not before the JSE recorded its best day in a month yesterday.
Shares in MTN rose the most since January after the company said robust demand for its data and fintech services helped core profit rise by double digits in its half-year to end-June. But the juicy action was the TRP drying up Rains bid for a potential R40bn tie-up proposal with Telkom, ordering the mobile network operator to withdraw the announcement as it had not sought prior approval.
The slight easing of inflation readings this week had driven global stocks higher and capped a rising dollar , until a string of Fed speakers put paid to expectations of the central bank going slow on further policy tightening.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.07% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.58% overnight, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08%.
In commodities, Brent is still on track to gain more than 4% this week, while Bitcoin , the leading cryptocurrency, shaved some overnight gains and lost 1.22% to trade at $23,916.

To put the week in perspective Michael Avery is joined by Warwick Lucas, Head of Galileo Securities; Annabel Bishop, Chief Economist: Investec & Raymond Parsons, Professor: School of Business and Governance at Northwest University