Market Review, Commodities, Currencies & Corporate Update - 13.04.21

SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW

• South African markets closed in the red yesterday, pulled down by losses in mining sector stocks and as the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic clouds the economic recovery progress.
• Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE: HMY ), Gold Fields(JO: GFIJ ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO: ANGJ ) dropped 4.2%, 4.0% and 3.9%, respectively.
• Platinum miners, Impala Platinum Holdings (JO: IMPJ ), Northam Platinum (JO: NHMJ ) and Royal Bafokeng Platinum (JO: RBPCBe ) declined 2.9%, 2.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
• On the other hand, banking firms, RMB Holdings (JO: RMHJ ), Capitec Bank Holdings (JO: CPIJ ) and Nedbank Group (JO: NEDJ ) gained 4.4%, 1.7% and 0.9%, respectively.
• The JSE All Share index declined 1.2% to close at 66,390.02.

UK MARKET REVIEW

• The UK market finished weaker yesterday, amid a stronger pound and as investors expressed caution ahead of the US earnings season.
• Taylor Wimpey (LON: TW ) and Persimmon (LON: PSN ) dropped 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively.
• Ocado Group (LON: OCDO ) shed 2.3%, as the lockdown eased. AstraZeneca (LON: AZN ) lost 0.9%, after it reported that a trial of its Farxiga drug for treating hospitalised COVID-19 patients did not produce statistically significant results.
• On the flipside, banking firms, Lloyds Banking Group (LON: LLOY ), Barclays (LON: BARC ) and NatWest Group (LON: NWG ) rose 2.6%, 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
• The FTSE 100 index declined 0.4% to close at 6,889.12.

US MARKET REVIEW

• US markets ended lower yesterday, as investors awaited corporate earnings session report.
• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) fell 1.3%, after a report indicated that it plans to equip its Apple TV streaming devices with a built-in speaker and a camera for videoconferencing.
• On the contrary, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA ) surged 5.6%, after its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) introduced a new central processing unit to crunch reams of data, with technology based on its acquisition target ARM Holdings (LON: ARM ), during its annual GTC conference.
• The S&P 500 index marginally fell to settle at 4,127.99, while the DJIA index declined 0.2% to close at 33,745.40.
• The NASDAQ index eased 0.4% to end the trading session at 13,850.00.

ASIA MARKET REVIEW

• Asian markets are trading higher this morning. In Japan, Mazda Motor (T: 7261 ) and Toyota Motor (T: 7203 ) have risen 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
• In Hong Kong, Sunny Optical Technology Group (HK: 2382 ) has dropped 0.7%.
• On the other hand, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA ) Group Holding has gained 3.4%, after the Chinese central bank announced that company’s financial technology affiliate Ant Group is to restructure as a financial holding company.
• Oil company, CNOOC (HK: 0883 ) has added 0.8%. In South Korea, Samsung Electronics (KS: 005930 ) has advanced 0.5%.
• The Nikkei 225 index is trading 1.1% higher at 29,851.68.
• The Hang Seng index is trading 1.0% firmer to trade at 28,727.53, while the Kospi index is trading 1.0% higher at 3,167.78.

COMMODITIES

• At 06:00 SAST today, Brent spot prices rose 0.7% to trade at $63.18/bl, extending previous session gains.
• Yesterday, Brent spot prices rose 0.1% to settle at $62.72/bl, on optimism over the pace of coronavirus vaccinations in the US and after Yemen’s, Iran-aligned Houthi movement announced that it had fired 17 drones and two ballistic missiles at Saudi targets, including towards Saudi Aramco (SE: 2222 ) refineries in Jubail and Jeddah.
• Yesterday, the Illinois North Central No.2 Yellow corn spot prices fell 1.9% to $5.6/bushel.
• At 06:00 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.1% to trade at $1,734.78/oz. Yesterday, gold declined 0.6% to close at $1,732.76/oz, as an uptick in US Treasury yields weighed on safe haven metal’s appeal.
• Yesterday, copper declined 0.8% to close at $8,864.25/mt. Aluminium closed 0.1% lower at $2,245.50/mt.

CURRENCIES

• Yesterday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, the Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren stated that the US economy could see a significant rebound this year thanks to accommodative monetary and fiscal policy, but the labour market still has much room for improvement.
• The yield on benchmark government bonds mostly rose yesterday. The yield on 2026 bond rose to 7.52%. Further, the yield on 2023 bond declined to 5.13% while that for the longer-dated 2030 issue rose to 9.32%.
• At 06:00 SAST, the US dollar is trading marginally higher against the South African rand at R14.5775, while the euro is trading 0.1% lower at R17.3442. At 06:00 SAST, the British pound has marginally declined against the South African rand to trade at R20.0296.
• Yesterday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies. Meanwhile, the eurozone retail sales rose on a monthly basis in February, despite the rise in coronavirus infections and the tightening of restrictions across the continent.
• At 06:00 SAST, the euro slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.1898, while it has weakened 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8658.

ECONOMIC UPDATES

• In March, on a YoY basis, retail sales across all sectors advanced 20.3% in the UK. Retail sales across all sectors had registered a rise of 9.5% in the prior month.
• In the eurozone, the seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 3.0% in February on a monthly basis, compared with a revised fall of 5.2% in the prior month. Markets were expecting retail sales to rise 1.0%.
• The US has reported a budget deficit of $660.00bn in March, from a budget deficit of $311.00bn in the prior month. Market expectations were for a budget deficit of $265.00bn.
• Trade surplus in China narrowed to $13.80bn in March. China had registered a trade surplus of $103.26bn in the prior month.

CORPORATE UPDATES

SOUTH AFRICA

• Sirius Real Estate Ltd (JO: SREJ ) The property investment company, in its FY21 trading update, stated that the company witnessed 7.6% growth in total annualised rent roll to EUR97.20mn. Total occupancy increased to 87.0% with like for like occupancy increasing to 86.9%.
• Sygnia launches new exchange-traded fund: Sygnia, the asset manager founded by Magda Wierzycka, has launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF), giving investors exposure to overseas companies that promote sustainable investment.
• UK’s Hammerson (LON: HMSO ) in talks to sell retail parks portfolio: Hammerson, one of the largest UK mall owners that was buffeted by Brexit and more recently Covid-19, confirmed that it was in talks to sell some of its retail parks to a Canadian private equity group, in a deal it says will strengthen its balance sheet.