A November to Remember for South Africa's Resilient Bank Stocks
- Index turns 10-month decline into a positive return in 2017
- Shares advance 9% to within sight of April 2015 record
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South African bank stocks are nothing if not resilient.
In November they have contended with news that South Africa’s local-currency debt was downgraded to junk status for a second time this year, increasing their borrowing costs and piling further strain on an economy that slipped into recession in the first quarter. Instead of buckling under an increasingly negative outlook for 2018, bank stocks have reacted by recording their best month of gains since March last year.