The Dow jumped 4.53% on Wednesday on news that Congress has approved an $8.3bn package to tackle the coronavirus and Joe Biden is steaming ahead in the Democrat election campaign. Picture: REUTERS
Markets also welcomed a victory by Democratic candidate Joe Biden during primary elections, having taken the lead over socialist rival Bernie Sanders. The Dow jumped 4.53% on Wednesday, while Asian markets were firmer on Thursday morning, with the Shanghai Composite up 1.4% and the Hang Seng 1.17%.The rand was 0.21% weaker at R15.29/$, but has firmed 2.35% over the past five days.
In corporate news, Standard Bank is expected to release its full-year results later, but it has not issued a trading statement, implying that headline earnings per share have not moved more than 20% from the prior comparative period.