UPDATE ON MARKETS: What an eventful start to 2021. Between short-squeezes and hedge funds blowing up, volatility was definitely on the forefront during January. FTSE/JSE All Share (JSE) improved by 5.21% during January, bringing the 12-month returns to 14.51%.

2/12

South African Large Caps dominated during January, growing by 5.41%. Mid Caps and Small Caps grew by 2.59% and 3.88%, respectively.
3/12

The FTSE/ JSE All Share (+1.95%) enjoyed a better month than the MSCI All Country World Index (-0.45%) again in USD terms. The 12-month performance for the JSE in USD-terms is now only lagging behind the MSCI ACWI´s performance by 3.7%.
4/12

The #FearandGreed #SouthAfrica #Index moved into GREED territory during January. For those followers who'd like to get more information on the Fear & Greed South African Index, can click here: https://t.co/bYOL5Bz2cf
5/12

Foreigners were net buyers of both SA Equities and Bonds during January. This makes foreigners buyers of SA Equities and Bonds for 3 months in a row now.
6/12

From a sectoral point of view, January saw the Industrials and Resource sectors improve by 8.48% and 4.86%. More on Financials in my next tweet (7/12)
7/12

It was definitely the #Naspers & #Prosus show during January. SA Banks had a horrible month, making it by far the biggest losers on the JSE. This contributed to the Financial sector losing 3.08% of its value during January.
8/12

The Rand lost 3.1% of its value against the USD. This was in line with most BRICS currency movements, however. In actual fact, the Rand now moved into the best performing BRICS currency position over a 5-year period.
9/12

Commodities were mixed during January. Brent Oil recovered further with a massive jump (+7.82%) during the month. Copper improved by 1.46%, while Platinum was marginally stronger. Gold and Palladium retracted over the same period, however.
10/12

The SA General Equity Unit Trust Sector was up by 3.38% during January. SA Multi-Asset High Equity & Low Equity Sectors grew by 2.8% & 1.1%, respectively, for the month.
11/12

The US M2 Money Supply YoY growth rate reached a new all-time high AGAIN for the eighth time in 2020, during December.
12/12 & Final

The US Dollar Index is trading below its downward-sloping 200-day Moving Average, and 50-day Moving Average.
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Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods