Events that moved the market Q1 2021

Alibaba Group and Tencent lead a tech stock selloff as the Trump administration considers barring investments in China’s two most valuable companies.

Joe Biden is recognised by Congress as the next US president amid violence at the US Capitol as lawmakers meet to confirm the election result.

South Africa’s manufacturing output falls 3.5% year-on-year.

US President-elect Biden introduces details of his stimulus programmes. The first programme entails additional expenditures of US$1.9 trillion that would be entirely debt-financed.

Chinese imports from the US are up 48% in December versus a year earlier.

In December, for the third consecutive month, retail sales decline from the previous month.

China’s full-year growth came in at 2.3 achieved in 2019.

The spread between 20-year and two-year debt rises amid renewed electricity blackouts, a second wave of Covid-19 and a slow path to recovery.

The gap between 5- and 30-year bonds reaches a daily high of 140 basis points after Yellen’s comment on funding debt by issuing long-term debt, including 50-year Treasuries. 

President Joe Biden moves to rejoin the Paris accord and imposes a moratorium on oil leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Asian shares rise for a third session as the Hang Seng hits 30 000 points. S&P 500 futures edge higher as the index posts its best first-day reaction to a presidential inauguration since at least 1937.

South African retail sales fall 4% year-on-year.

The latest PMIs show that, in both Europe and the US, manufacturing activity continues to grow at a healthy pace. But in Europe the services sector is slow to recover.

Japanese core prices are down 1.0% versus a year earlier, the worst performance since 2009, despite the hugely aggressive monetary policy of the Bank of Japan.

Ooba’s Q4 2020 home loans application report shows a 36% rise in applications relative to Q4 of 2019.

African Bank reports a R560 million loss, compared with the previous year’s profit of R267 million.

Silver futures rise to $30.35 an ounce on the Comex, the highest since February 2013. Like GameStop, silver’s initial advance can be traced to Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.

Ford Motor Co will invest $1.05 billion in its South African manufacturing operations, including upgrades to expand production of its Ranger pickup truck.

Alphabet’s quarterly ad sales rise due to heavy digital advertising over the holiday season. Performance was driven by Search and YouTube, of which ad revenue jumped 46%. 

IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rise to 50.8, above the 50 level that denotes expansion.

South Korean and Japanese shares lead Asia higher, with the Nikkei 225 hitting 30,000 for the first time since 1990.

Platinum rises to its highest level in more than six years and copper to its highest since 2012.

Facebook blocks several news pages in Australia in retaliation to a planned law to force Facebook and Google to pay Australian publishers for news content.

Copper rallies above $9 000 a ton on expected higher demand when the global economy recovers. Nickel passes $20 000 a ton.

SA’s unemployment rate reaches a record high, standing at 32.5%, meaning 7.2 million people are unemployed.

The FTSE/JSE All Share Index bursts through 68 000 for the first time.

SA GDP shrinks 7 expansion in 2019. This is the biggest decline since 1920.

After disclosing its $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin in February, Tesla signals its intent to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment.

South Africa’s headline consumer price inflation slows to 2.9 in January.

Tech giants, such as Tencent to Alibaba, slump after the SEC announces it’s taking steps to review the financial audits of overseas companies. Non-compliance would lead to delisting from US bourses.

After nearly a week of blocking the Suez Canal, which normally carries about 12% of global trade and one million barrels of oil a day, the giant container ship Ever Given is finally freed.