Current Co-ordinates

South Africa Market Review

South African markets closed in the red yesterday, dragged down by broad based losses in technology and retail sector stocks. Technology company, Naspers (JO:NPNJn) plunged 9.5%. Retail companies, Cie Financiere Richemont S.A. (JO:CFRJ), Pick n Pay (JO:PIKJ) Stores and Massmart Holdings (JO:MSMJ) declined 2.6%, 2.4% and 0.8%, respectively. Real estate companies, Dipula Income Fund (JO:DIBJ), Fortress REIT (JO:FFAJ) and Capital & Counties Properties (JO:CCOJ) eased 2.1%, 1.1% and 1.0%, respectively. On the flipside, gold miners, Harmony Gold Mining (JO:HARJ), Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) soared 5.0%, 3.8% and 1.8%, respectively. Platinum miners, Impala Platinum Holdings (JO:IMPJ), Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ) and Royal Bafokeng Platinum (JO:RBPCBe) gained 2.5%, 2.3% and 1.3%, respectively. The JSE All Share index declined 1.2% to close at 74,838.09.

UK Market Review

The UK market finished weaker yesterday, as investors assessed the Spring Statement by British Finance Minister, Rishi Sunak. BP (LON:BP) gained 4.5%, after it announced a partnership with Japan's Marubeni to explore an offshore wind development opportunity, possibly putting the energy outfit further on track to meet its target in the renewables space. Miners, Glencore (LON:GLEN), Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) advanced 1.8%, 1.6% and 1.0%, respectively. On the contrary, consumer goods companies, Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:PSN) and Unilever (LON:ULVR) shed 4.5% and 1.6%, respectively. Real estate companies, Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) and Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) dropped 4.1% and 4.0%, respectively. Halma eased 0.5%, despite reporting good progress in its 2H22 trading period. The FTSE 100 index declined 0.2% to close at 7,460.63.

US Market Review

US markets ended lower yesterday, as investors react to hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve (Fed). Technology companies, salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shed 3.3% and 1.5%, respectively. Insurance companies, American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Travelers (NYSE:TRV) declined 2.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Financial firms, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Visa (NYSE:V) dropped 2.2%, 2.0% and 1.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, GameStop (NYSE:GME) surged 14.5%, after its Chairman, Ryan Cohan bought more shares in the meme stock, thus increasing his holding. The S&P 500 index fell 1.2% to settle at 4,456.24, while the DJIA index declined 1.3% to close at 34,358.50. The NASDAQ index eased 1.3% to end the trading session at 13,922.60.

Asia Market Review

Asian markets are trading lower this morning, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. In Japan, transport company, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (T:9107) has plunged 10.0%. On the flipside, Toyota Motor Corporation (T:7203) has gained 2.3%. In Hong Kong, optical products company, Sunny Optical Technology Group (HK:2382) has plummeted 6.1%. On the contrary, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Health Information Technology has added 2.4%. In South Korea, electronics company, LG Electronics (KS:066570) has shed 2.1%. Meanwhile, CJ Seafood Corporation (KS:011155) has soared 15.0%. The Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.9% lower at 27,782.58. The Hang Seng index has marginally declined to trade at 22,163.30, while the Kospi index is trading 0.5% lower at 2,719.52.

Key Global Indices

Commodities

At 06:00 SAST today, Brent spot prices fell 0.7% to trade at $120.96/bl, reversing previous session’s gains.

Yesterday, Brent spot prices rose 5.8% to settle at $121.86/bl, as disruptions to Russian and Kazakh crude exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) raised concerns about a tighter global supply. Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories fell by 2.51mn bls for the week ended 18 March.

Yesterday, the Illinois North Central No.2 Yellow corn spot prices rose 0.7% to $7.31/bushel.

At 06:00 SAST today, gold prices declined 0.3% to trade at $1,938.60/oz. Yesterday, gold gained 1.2% to close at $1,943.86/oz, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict boosted demand for the safe haven yellow metal.

Yesterday, copper rose 1.8% to close at $10,443.00/mt. Aluminium closed 4.4% higher at $3,646.00/mt.

Currencies

Yesterday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In South Africa, inflation stayed at the same level as in the previous month in February, supporting the case for a third consecutive increase. Retailer confidence contracted in 1Q22 and the situation is expected to get worse with soaring fuel and grain prices due to the war in Ukraine. In the US, mortgage applications declined for the week ended 18 March, amid a surge in interest rates. Further, new home sales decreased in February, even as home builders maintained a steady pace of construction. Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell stated that digital assets not governed by government regulation will probably be brought within a set of rules at some point in the country. Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President, Mary Daly said that the Fed policymakers are prepared to take more aggressive action to bring down unacceptably high inflation, including a possible half-percentage-point interest rate hike at the next policy meeting in May.

The yield on benchmark government bonds fell yesterday. The yield on 2026 bond fell to 8.43%. Further, the yield on 2023 bond declined to 5.50%, while that for the longer-dated 2030 issue fell to 9.72%.

At 06:00 SAST, the US dollar is trading marginally higher against the South African rand at R14.7628, while the euro is trading 0.2% lower at R16.2159. At 06:00 SAST, the British pound has declined 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R19.4723.

Yesterday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies. In the eurozone, consumer confidence deteriorated in March. In the UK, inflation surged to its highest since 1992 in February, with soaring energy, food and durable goods prices.

At 06:00 SAST, the euro slipped 0.2% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0984, while it has weakened 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8328.

Economic Updates

The consumer price index (CPI) advanced 0.6% in South Africa on a monthly basis in February, less than market expectations for a rise of 0.75%. The CPI had risen 0.2% in the prior month.

The retail price index in the UK recorded a rise of 0.8% in February on a monthly basis, more than market expectations for a rise of 0.7%. The retail price index had recorded a steady reading 0.0% in the prior month.

In the UK, the CPI registered a rise of 0.8% on a monthly basis in February, more than market expectations for an advance of 0.6%. The CPI had fallen 0.1% in the previous month.

In the UK, the non-seasonally adjusted input producer price index (PPI) recorded a rise of 14.7% in February on an annual basis, more than market expectations for an advance of 13.9%. Input PPI had registered a revised rise of 14.2% in the prior month.

On an annual basis, the non-seasonally adjusted output PPI rose 10.1% in February, in the UK. In the prior month, output PPI had advanced 9.9%.

The flash consumer confidence index recorded a drop to -18.70 in the eurozone, in March, compared with a reading of -8.80 in the previous month. Markets were anticipating the consumer confidence index to ease to -12.90.

The number of mortgage applications registered a drop of 8.1% on a weekly basis in the US, in the week ended 18 March 2022. In the prior week, the number of mortgage applications had dropped 1.2%.

New home sales in the US slid 2.0% in February on a MoM basis. In the prior month, new home sales had dropped by a revised 8.4%.

In March, the preliminary Markit manufacturing PMI in Australia registered a rise to 57.30, lower than market expectations of an advance to a level of 59.00. In the previous month, the Markit manufacturing PMI had recorded a level of 57.00.

Corporate Updates

South Africa

Grand Parade Investments Limited (JO:GPLJ): The investment holding company that actively manages investments in its current focus areas of food and gaming, in its 1H22 results, indicated that its revenue fell to R49.36mn from R58.94mn posted in the corresponding period of the previous year. Its diluted EPS increased from the same period of the prior year to 4.03c.

Oil prices swing due to disruption of Caspian Pipeline Consortium: Oil prices rose in volatile trading, supported by disruption of Russian and Kazakh crude exports via the CPC pipeline. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.69, or 2.5%, to $111.96 a barrel. The contract had earlier slipped to a low of $108.38.