It is often said that weather can impact peoples’ moods and that a full moon brings out strange behaviour. But, could there be a correlation between how well a nationals sports team performs and stock exchange performance?
Standard Bank stockbrokers say that there is a real possibility that a great performance on the World Cup Rugby field could correlate with returns on the South African stock market. The stockbroking team says there seems to be historic evidence that claims of this nature could be rooted in truth.
An example of this is when the Ashes is decided between England and Australia, moves on equity markets can be expected. Since 1985, in the six months following any of the series, the winning country's stock market has moved up by an average of almost 10%.
It is no coincidence that rugby - the sport that really gets a South African’s blood pounding through its veins - experiences similar results.
On October 20 2007, when the Springboks ran out winners against England and took home the Rugby World Cup, national pride impacted on market prices for the entire series. Celebrating the team’s unbeaten run through the tournament, the rand strengthened by 4.3% against the US dollar and managed to gain 7.0% against the pound in the week following the victory.
