The South Africa's JSE FTSE All Share Index ended the year positive, posting gains
of 1.8% for December resulting to 5.3% for the year. The FTSE JSE Capped SWIX
rose 2.7% for the month and ending the year with +3.6%.

Property and financials stocks were the lead performing for the month, with the SA
Listed Property Index jumping 9.3%, but ending the year with positive 2.5%, while
Financial-15 Index was up 5.34% for December adding to the twelve months return of
15.1%.

SA consumer price index (CPI), dropped by 0.1% for the month (November), against
market expectation of +0.1%. This marks it the first decrease in ten months or since
Jan 2023. The decrease can be attributed mainly to a 5.5% decline in the fuel price
index.

Despite the challenges facing South Africa like persistent ESKOM's loadshedding
and the decline in Transnet's railway infrastructure, South African rand strengthened
by 2.6% against the dollar in December ending 3.0% for the fourth quarter.

South Africa's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been among the
weakest in emerging markets. The third quarter of 2023 saw a slight contraction in
the South African economy, with quarter-on-quarter GDP declining 0.2% versus the
prior period's 0.5% expansion.

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