Market Commentary | The week that was

Last week the world’s focus shifted to interest rate announcements as 16 central banks from around the globe released their formal decisions. During a critical week in terms of central bank meetings, we saw the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Bank of Japan (BoJ), and Bank of England (BoE) all meeting market expectations.

Locally, the SARB raised interest rates by 75 basis points (bps), while it also lowered its growth forecast to 1.9% for 2022 and 1.4% for 2023. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the SARB, revealed: "Three members of the committee preferred the announced increase of 75bps, while two members were in favour of a 100bps increase."

More international news is that the price of Brent crude oil tumbled to below 78 dollar a barrel “US benchmark crude collapsed more than 7% last week for a fourth straight weekly drop, the longest losing run this year,” reported Bloomberg (26 September 2022).

Looking at the week ahead: Locally: The main focus will be on the release of the latest figures regarding the Producer Price Index (PPI) and the Trade Balance. Globally: The United States are expected to release its Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index and other inflation data.