Foreigners Dump S. African Stocks at Fastest Pace Since 2017
Foreigners Dump South Africa Stocks at Fastest Pace in Two Years
(Bloomberg) -- Foreigners offloaded South African stocks at the fastest pace in two years last week, as worries about the state of the global economy helped spur an exit from riskier assets.
Offshore investors were net sellers of 10.7 billion rand ($711 million) of the country’s equities in the five days ending Oct. 4, based on figures from Johannesburg stock exchange operator JSE Ltd. That’s the heaviest week of outflows since September 2017. Foreigners have been net sellers in 12 of the past 13 sessions.
Appetite for South African equities has been hurt by concerns about global growth, the prolonged trade war and a moribund local economy. A forthcoming credit-rating review by Moody’s Investors Service has added to caution among non-resident investors.
South African stocks fell 5.8% in the three months to the end of September, their worst third-quarter performance since 2011. And it’s not just stocks that foreigners are selling: Their ownership of South African government debt dropped to 37% of the total at the end of August, from as high as 43% in March 2018, National Treasury data show.
To contact the reporter on this story: Colleen Goko in Johannesburg at cgoko2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Blaise Robinson at brobinson58@bloomberg.net, ;Dana El Baltaji at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen, Jon Menon
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