Global equity markets continued to rally yesterday as Democrat Joe Biden looked set to take the presidency from Donald Trump, with only a few states remaining to tally up the votes from Tuesday's elections.

Technology shares were amongst the biggest winners, with Reuters reporting that investors are encouraged by the prospect of gridlock in Congress and the notion that Silicon Valley will be spared greater oversight as the Democrats are unlikely to win control of the Senate.

On the JSE, retailers contributed to an almost 3% rise, led by The Foschini Group after it said it had slashed debt following its recent rights issue and strong cash flow in the first half of its financial year. Dis-Chem rose on the back of its half-year results even though it withheld an interim dividend. Truworths was up after releasing a business update.

Sappi and RDI REIT also gained, despite the impact of Covid-19 on their businesses. Sappi says demand for dissolving pulp is improving thanks to a recovery in textile markets, while RDI says it's in a much stronger position after disposing of more retail properties.

It's the end of the week, so all the latest from DealMakers in today's newsletter too.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

The latest from Ingham Analytics

What do Standard Bank, Ant Group and Alibaba have in common? More than you may think seeing as Chinese financial regulators are toughening up on micro-lending oversight - as evidenced by the suspension of the Ant Group IPO. Ingham Analytics believe that Ant could come back to seek a listing but investors would be more inclined to rate it less richly than a pure fintech internet play. In their updated view on e-commerce giant Alibaba entitled "White-Anted", Ingham Analytics unpack the complexities of this stringent regulatory environment and give their view on where fair value lies and the earnings outlook for Alibaba.