JSE Financial Markets
Overview
The JSE offers investors access to various financial markets namely:
- Equities
- Bonds
- Commodities
- Derivatives
The aim of this module is to provide you with insight into the different JSE Markets to help guide your investment decisions.
By the time you have completed this module, you should be able to answer the following question:
- What are the different financial markets that the JSE grants investors access to?
Equities Market
The JSE’s Equity Market connects buyers and sellers interested in exposure to South African listed companies, dual listed companies from across the globe and a variety of listed products. Through the JSE Equity Market, investors are able to trade on a variety of products which include Warrants, Exchange Traded Products such as Exchange Traded Funds and Exchange Traded Notes, Specialised Products and many more. The market offers members fast and efficient trading through its world class Millennium IT trading system and its high performance market data system.
The JSE Equity Market:
- Consists of the Main Board and the AltX. This provides companies and investors with a wide variety of listing and investment opportunities to cater for everyone’s specific needs.
- Has more than 914 Securities currently available (as at 20 August 2019).
- Has approximately 357 companies listed across the Main Board and the AltX Board (as at 20 August 2019).
- Has approximately 55 Equity Market member firms, authorised to trade on the market (as at 20 August 2019).
- Has data that is used by clients and investors in more than 40 countries.
Please note that these figures change on a daily basis and for up to date figures you can refer to the JSE website.
Bond Market
The Bond Market (also known as the credit or debt market) is a financial market where members can issue fresh debt, referred to as the primary market, or buy and sell debt securities, referred to as the secondary market. This is normally in the form of bonds, but may also include notes, bills, etc.
The Bond Market provides:
- Ease of access,
- East use, and
- Cost effectiveness in an environment that institutes a high level of transparency and integrity.
The Bond Market brings a greater range of products to the market and allows for the participation of new entrants, which in turn will generate increased liquidity and market efficiency.
Derivatives Market
Derivatives are used to diversify a portfolio or to manage risk. They are also used to speculate on market movements.
Derivatives form part of advanced investing. Essentially, a derivative is a secondary security whose value is only based (derived) on the value of the main security that it is linked to. Having a derivative gives you access to the main asset without actually owning it. Futures contracts, forward contracts, and options are commonly used derivatives.
The JSE’s Derivatives Market enables you to:
- Trade Bond Derivatives
- Trade Interest Rate Derivatives
- Trade Equity Derivatives
- Trade Commodity Derivatives
- Trade Currency Derivatives