Market Review, Commodities, Currencies, Economic & Corporate Update - 07.08.23

Published 2023/08/07, 10:02

South Africa Market Review

  • South African markets closed in the green on Friday, led by gains in chemical and banking sector stocks.
  • Chemicals company, AECI (JO:AFEJ) and Omnia Holdings (JO:OMNJ) jumped 8.4% and 1.3%, respectively.
  • Lenders, Standard Bank Group (JO:SBKJ), Capitec Bank Holdings (JO:CPIJ), Nedbank Group (JO:NEDJ) and FirstRand (JO:FSRJ) advanced 5.7%, 4.0%, 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
  • Retailers, Foschini Group (JO:TFGJ) and Mr Price Group (JO:MRPJ) gained 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively.
  • On the flipside, food companies, Tiger Brands (JO:TBSJ) and RFG Holdings (JO:RFGJ) dropped 3.1% and 2.2%, respectively.
  • Gold miners, Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) declined 2.4% and 1.6%, respectively.
  • Platinum miners, Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ) and Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ) shed 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.
  • The JSE All Share index advanced 0.3% to close at 76,960.61.

UK Market Review

  • The UK market finished firmer on Friday, amid rise in oil prices.
  • Paper and packaging companies, Mondi (LON:MNDI), Smurfit Kappa Group (LON:SKG) and DS Smith (LON:SMDS) climbed 5.5%, 3.4% and 2.5%, respectively.
  • Energy companies, Shell (LON:RDSa) and BP (LON:BP) advanced 2.1% and 1.8%, respectively.
  • Insurance companies, Prudential (LON:PRU), Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) and Aviva (LON:AV) gained 1.2%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
  • Telecommunications companies, Vodafone Group (LON:VOD) and BT Group (LON:BT) rose 1.7% and 0.8%, respectively.
  • Water utility companies, United Utilities Group (LON:UU) and Severn Trent (LON:SVT) added 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
  • On the other hand, advertising company, WPP (LON:WPP) dropped 3.5%, after the company slashed its annual like-for-like growth outlook.
  • The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.5% to close at 7,564.37.

US Market Review

  • US markets ended lower on Friday, as investors assessed US jobs data and corporate results.
  • Technology company, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 4.8%, after the company reported a drop in its sales in 3Q23 and projected a similar performance in the next quarter.
  • On the contrary, media and entertainment companies, Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) surged 8.4%, 3.6% and 1.0%, respectively.
  • E-commerce company, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) jumped 8.3%, after the company reported better than expected revenues in 2Q23.
  • The S&P 500 index fell 0.5% to settle at 4,478.03, while the DJIA index declined 0.4% to close at 35,065.62.
  • The NASDAQ index eased 0.4% to end the trading session at 13,909.24.

Asia Market Review

  • Asian markets are trading lower this morning, ahead of Chinese inflation data.
  • In Japan, automobile company, Mitsubishi Motor (TYO:7211) has declined 1.9%.
  • On the flipside, pharmaceutical company, Astellas Pharma (TYO:4503) has jumped 8.6%.
  • In Hong Kong, property developer, CK Asset Holdings (HK:1113) has advanced 2.2%.
  • On the other hand, pharmaceutical company, Sino Biopharmaceutical (HK:1177) has dropped 5.3%.
  • In South Korea, electronics company, Daidong Electronics (KS:008110) has gained 13.6%.
  • On the contrary, chemical company, ISU Specialty Chemical (KS:457190) has shed 8.5%.
  • The Nikkei 225 index is trading marginally lower at 32,190.31.
  • The Hang Seng index has declined 0.2% to trade at 19,493.28, while the Kospi index is trading 0.5% lower at 2,590.17.

Commodities

  • At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices fell 0.1% to trade at $86.17/bl.
  • On Friday, Brent prices rose 1.3% to settle at $86.24/bl, following further supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Additionally, Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rigs count fell by 4 to 525 in the week ended 4 August 2023.
  • At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices marginally declined to trade at $1,941.36/oz. On Friday, gold gained 0.4% to close at $1,941.62/oz, as a weaker greenback and a drop in the US Treasury yields boosted demand for the precious yellow metal.
  • On Friday, copper declined 1.4% to close at $8,450.50/mt. Aluminium closed 0.1% higher at $2,232.70/mt.

Currencies

  • On Friday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, nonfarm payrolls increased less than expected in July. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate declined in July.
  • The yield on benchmark government bonds fell on Friday. The yield on 2026 bond fell to 8.97%. Further, the yield on the longer-dated 2030 issue fell to 10.26%.
  • At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.2% lower against the South African rand at R18.4391, while the euro is trading 0.2% lower at R20.2846. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has declined 0.2% against the South African rand to trade at R23.4965.
  • On Friday, the euro mostly advanced against most of the major currencies. In Germany, factory orders jumped in June, boosted by large-scale orders. In the eurozone, retail sales unexpectedly decreased in June.
  • At 05:30 SAST, the euro slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.1002, while it has weakened 0.2% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8633.

Economic Updates

  • In the UK, the construction PMI unexpectedly climbed to a level of 51.70 in August, compared to a level of 48.90 recorded in the previous month.
  • In Italy, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose 0.5% on a MoM basis in June, compared to a revised rise of 1.7% recorded in the prior month.
  • In Germany, seasonally adjusted factory orders unexpectedly rose 7.0% on a MoM basis in June, compared to a revised rise of 6.2% recorded in the previous month.
  • In the eurozone, retail sales unexpectedly dropped 0.3% on a MoM basis in June, compared to market expectations for a rise of 0.2%. Retail sales had recorded a revised rise of 0.6% in the previous month.
  • In the US, nonfarm payrolls rose by 187.00K in July, less than market expectations and compared to a revised level of 185.00K jobs in the previous month.
  • In the US, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in July, compared to 3.6% recorded in the previous month.
  • In Canada, the unemployment rate rose to 5.5% in July, compared to 5.4% recorded in the previous month.
  • In Canada, seasonally adjusted Ivey PMI unexpectedly dropped to a level of 48.60 in July, compared to a level of 50.20 recorded in the previous month.

Corporate Updates

South Africa

  • Standard Bank Group Limited (JO:SBKJ): The financial services company, in its trading update for the six-month period ended 30 June 2023, stated that the group continued to benefit from its growing client franchise, tailwinds from higher interest rates, and elevated market volatility into June 2023. The group expects its HEPS to be 30% and 35% higher as compared with 955.50c recorded in the prior period. EPS is expected to rise between 32% to 37%, compared with 980.60c recorded in the previous year. Further, the company intends to release its interim results on 17 August 2023.
  • AngloGold Ashanti Limited (JO:ANGJ): The gold mining company, in its 1H23 results, reported that revenues advanced 1.4% from the same period of the preceding year to $2.19bn. Its diluted EPS stood at 10.00 US cents, compared with 71.00 US cents recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.
  • No end in sight to oil price rally: Oil prices rose for a second day, set for their sixth week of gains, after Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s second and third-largest crude producers, pledged to cut output through next month.

Latest comments

Loading next article…
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.