September was a tough month for financial markets, as the US Federal Reserve made it very clear that they are prepared to keep interest high for longer much than what the market expected, in order to bring US inflation down to the 2% target level. In response to the comments from US Federal Reserve, the US 10-year government bond yield rose to 4.57%, the highest level since 2007.
For South African investors, only local cash delivered a positive return for September. Despite a big move in the South African 10-year Government Bond yield, the exchange rate to the US Dollar depreciated by less than 1% for September. Local equities and bonds delivered better returns than their global counterparts in relative terms, with local equities benefiting from strong performance of Sasol, Anglo American & Glencore. Read more.