ClubForex

As Charles Koch once said: “The future is unknown and unknowable.” Looking forward into 2021, amidst all the uncertainty, we have to ask ourselves a few philosophical question:

What do we know, we know; what do we know that we don’t know; and what don’t we know we don’t know? Considering the year that was and towards the year ahead, we know that market crises offer future investment opportunities.The pandemic came to SA when the country was already on the backfoot.

A year like no other for most of us around the world will be remembered in the US and international financial markets for five remarkable features:

Apart from a few weeks culminating in the 2020 market lows of March 23, stocks managed to shrug off what has been a drastic collapse in global economic activity with significant immediate and longer-term consequences. This incredible decoupling has shown no sign of slowing even as markets trade at historically elevated valuation levels.

South African private sector activity was little changed in December as demand stalled and there were renewed falls in purchases and inventories, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 50.2 in December from 50.3 in November, its lowest reading for three months but still above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction. The largest component of the PMI, the new orders index, revealed broadly unchanged sales volumes. Output was also largely flat.

DOW JONES, NASDAQ 100 FORECASTS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD.US equities pushed higher during the quiet holiday period with each of the Dow Jones, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 clocking new all-time highs to start the week

US equities pushed higher during the quiet holiday period with each of the Dow Jones, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 clocking new all-time highs to start the week. In a return to form, the Nasdaq 100 continues to outpace the Dow Jones which has effectively put an end to the industrial rotation trade that the market witnessed in November.

GOLD PRICE OUTLOOK: TECHNICAL RESISTANCE IN FOCUS AS PRECIOUS METALS STAGE BULLISH REVERSAL.

Gold price action has staged a healthy rebound attempt over recent trading sessions. The precious metal has climbed roughly 5% since the start of December in an effort to end its losing streak of four-months straight. Gold prices currently hover slightly beneath the psychologically-significant $1,900-level, which so far has kept sustained advances at bay.

CHINESE INDUSTRIAL PROFITS, AUD/USD, IRON ORE, COPPER – TALKING POINTS

Iron ore and copper prices are trading higher this week following China’s National Bureau of Statistics reporting a seventh consecutive month of growth in industrial profits. Industrial firms continued to see increased profits in November, with the DailyFX Economic Calendar showing a 2.4% increase on a YoY year-to-date basis, up from 0.7% in October. Meanwhile, AUD/USD is trading above the 0.76 handle as prices climb above resistance.