Market Commentary | The week that was

JSE Heavyweights, Naspers and Prosus, start the week with double digit gains in the early hours of trading. Dutch technology investment company Prosus and its controlling shareholder Naspers, said on Monday they intend to sell down their massive stake in Chinese software giant Tencent to fund a share purchase programme.

Last week, Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell said the Fed is ‘not trying to provoke’ a recession, but it is ‘certainly a possibility’. Mr. Powell also said the following while testifying before the Senate Banking Committee “But we do think it’s absolutely essential that we restore price stability, really for the benefit of the labour market, as much as anything else.” The current inflation rate in the United Sates is 8.6% - re-accelerating in May thanks to surging gas and airfare prices.