SSA Equity Market in H2-2020: Wheezing from the impact of COVID-19

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consumer goods Stock market halts two days downtrend, gains 1.04%

The performance of equity markets across the world was a tale of two quarters in H1-2020. This was as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Q1-2020 spurred a broad-based risk-off sentiment while the synchronized injections of fiscal and monetary stimulus spurred a risk-on sentiment later in Q2-2020.

Despite the recovery in Q2-2020, major equity indices in the global, emerging and frontier markets remain below the water, still wheezing from the negative impact of COVID-19-induced selloffs.

Notably, all the six bourses under our coverage in SSA ended H1-2020 in the negative territories.

Looking ahead, we expect the overall interest in SSA equities to strengthen as more countries continue to ease lockdown policies and businesses begin to re-open.

Also, the low-interest-rate environment in the developed market, the continued rollout of monetary and fiscal monetary stimulus and our expectation for currencies within the region to strengthen as external as well as domestic conditions improve, should spur a renewed foreign.

United Capital Research