South African stocks to gain nearly 8 pct by end of 2015.

By Vuyani Ndaba.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks will make little headway from current levels until June when potential monetary stimulus in the euro zone and an improving U.S. economy will drive them higher, a Reuters poll forecast on Wednesday.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index will nudge up around 1 percent from Tuesday's close of 41,755.14 to sit at 42,250 by the middle of next year but then surge to 45,000 by the end of 2015, according to the poll of 11 analysts taken in the past week.

The Top-40 index is currently trading at its weakest level in two months, hampered by low economic growth, a global slowdown, fears of a full-blown crisis in Russia and falling oil prices.

"We do have certain event risks in the early part of next year, the market is waiting for additional stimulus from the euro zone," said Mohammed Nalla, head of strategic research at Nedbank Capital.

Europe is South Africa's largest trading partner and economists say policy easing in the euro zone would bolster the country's economic prospects.

Nalla said any disappointments on European Central Bank stimulus could put more pressure on South African stocks.

In a separate poll this month, economists were near unanimous in expecting the ECB to begin buying sovereign bonds within a few months.

An improving U.S. economy will also likely aid sentiment and prop up South African stocks.
Easy money from the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus boosted emerging markets like South Africa in 2013, when the Top-40 index rose almost 20 percent, but the end of stimulus there has seen markets pull back.

South Africa's economy is expected to grow 2.5 percent in 2015, up from an estimated 1.4 percent this year, although analysts say interest rates are likely rise in the third quarter, three months after the United States is expected to start raising interest rates.

By By Vuyani Ndaba | Reuters.
Culled from Yahoo News.