Stocks post modest advance; dollar steadies

Bloomberg

Asian stocks posted modest gains as traders awaited the second half of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress on the economy and keep a watch on the US-North Korea summit.

Equities edged higher in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong, and outperformed in China. The dollar steadied alongside Treasuries.

Earlier, the S&P 500 Index closed in the red after Powell warned that growth looked uneven and policy makers will be patient on interest-rate adjustments.

The pound held Tuesday’s gains spurred by a promise from UK Prime Minister Theresa May for a vote to delay Brexit if her proposed deal fails.

Trading in equity and bond futures was impacted due to a technical problem at CME Group Inc. Powell said with inflation pressures muted and ongoing government policy uncertainty, a patient approach to future policy changes was warranted.

“Going forward, our policy decisions will continue to be data dependent and will take into account new information as economic conditions and the outlook evolve,’’ he told the Senate Banking Committee.

Investors are still grappling with a host of uncertainties from further developments on trade to Brexit that could rein in a recovery in global equities from December lows.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is in Hanoi for a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Elsewhere, oil climbed, reversing a loss from earlier in the week that were spurred by criticism from President Donald Trump that prices are too high.

MultiChoice lists on JSE

MultiChoice will start trading on the JSE on Wednesday, February 27. This follows its unbundling from Naspers, which was announced in September 2018.

It will list on the "broadcasting and entertainment" sector of the stock exchange. Multichoice serves 14 million customers across 50 African markets, and intends to continue growing this base.

Steinhoff expects to soon receive long-awaited PwC forensic report

Fourteen months after it was to hired to conduct an independent forensic investigation into Steinhoff, PwC is expected to soon submit its long-awaited report to the company's leadership. 

PwC was hired by the Stellenbosch-headquartered furniture and household goods conglomerate to scrutinize its books in the wake of the abrupt resignation of Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste in December 2017 after the group's auditors flagged accounting irregularities.