The South African equities market experienced another consecutive month of negative returns, with the benchmark ending the month down 1.59%. On a year-to-date basis, the benchmark returned 10.82%.

The equity market was likely impacted by the election of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. President Trump's victory introduced market uncertainty due to his "America First" stance. In the longer term, it remains to be seen how his policies will influence developing markets.

Pepkor Holdings, part of the consumer discretionary sector, was the best performer for the month. In contrast, Northam Platinum was the worst performer on the J430 index.
Unsurprisingly, the materials sector has faced significant challenges in generating positive returns over the past year and is likely to continue struggling until China shows signs of economic improvement.

Over the last month, even gold experienced a downturn, possibly reflecting the heightened uncertainty that has weighed on the market over the past two months.