SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the green on Friday, boosted by gains in mining sector stocks.
- Diversified miners, Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ) and Pan African Resources (JO:PANJ) each advanced 3.6%.
- Platinum miners, Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ), Anglo American Platinum (JO:AGLJ) and Northam Platinum (JO:NHMJ) gained 3.4%, 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Gold miners, AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) and Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) rose 2.0% and 1.8%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Life Healthcare (JO:LHCJ) and Aspen Pharmacare (JO:APNJ) increased 1.7% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Lenders, Capitec Bank Holdings (JO:CPIJ) and Standard Bank Group (JO:SBKJ) added 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively.
- On the flipside, retailers, Mr Price Group (JO:MRPJ), Clicks Group (JO:CLSJ) and Shoprite Holdings (JO:SHPJ) declined 1.7%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index advanced 0.6% to close at 71,657.25.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market finished firmer on Friday, buoyed by financial and energy sector stocks.
- Insurance company, Aviva (LON:AV) jumped 5.3%, amid reports of a potential takeover of RSA's UK consumer unit.
- Peers, Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN), Prudential (LON:PRU) and Admiral Group (LON:ADML) climbed 3.2%, 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Retailers, B&M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BMEB), Next (LON:NXT), JD Sports Fashion (LON:JD) and Ocado Group (LON:OCDO) increased 3.0%, 2.4%, 2.3% and 1.4%, respectively.
- Miners, Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), Fresnillo (LON:FRES), Glencore (LON:GLEN) (JO:GLNJ) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) advanced 2.3%, 2.0%, 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Energy company, Shell (LON:RDSa) gained 1.9%, after the company reported rise in gas trading earnings in 3Q23.
- Peer, BP (LON:BP) added 1.3%.
- Banking firms, HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA), Barclays (LON:BARC), Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) rose 1.6%, 1.5%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.6% to close at 7,494.58.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets ended higher on Friday, led by gains in technology sector stocks and as investors assessed robust US jobs report.
- Technology companies, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) advanced 2.7%, 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) each gained 1.5%.
- On the contrary, energy company, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) declined 1.7%, amid news that the company is in advanced talks to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD).
- The S&P 500 index rose 1.2% to settle at 4,308.50, while the DJIA index advanced 0.9% to close at 33,407.58.
- The NASDAQ index climbed 1.6% to end the trading session at 13,431.34.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading lower this morning, as investors await Chinese economic data later this week.
- Markets in Japan and South Korea are closed today on account of a public holiday.
- In Hong Kong, the morning session has been cancelled on typhoon warnings.
- On Friday, the Nikkei 225 index is declined 0.3% to close at 30,994.67, while the Kospi index rose 0.2% to close at 2,408.73.
- The Hang Seng index advanced 1.6% to trade at 17,485.98 on Friday.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices rose 3.8% to trade at $87.78/bl, amid geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
- On Friday, Brent prices rose 0.6% to settle at $84.58/bl, amid drop in oil inventories. Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rigs count fell by 5 to 497 in the week ended 6 October 2023.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.9% to trade at $1,849.13/oz. On Friday, gold gained 0.7% to close at $1,832.26/oz, as a weak dollar boosted demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- On Friday, copper rose 1.0% to close at $7,886.75/mt. Aluminium closed 0.4% higher at $2,242.95/mt.
CURRENCIES
- On Friday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, non-farm payrolls rose more than expected in September. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at an 18-month high in September.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell on Friday. The yield on the 2030 bond declined to 10.89% while that for the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 12.88%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.3% higher against the South African rand at R19.3576, while the euro is trading marginally lower at R20.4285. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has marginally declined against the South African rand to trade at R23.6189.
- On Friday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies. In the UK, the Halifax house price index fell for a sixth consecutive month in September, as higher interest rates weighed on affordability.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro slipped 0.3% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0554, while it has marginally weakened against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8649.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In the UK, the Halifax house price index dropped 0.4% on a MoM basis in September, less than market expectations for a drop of 0.8%. The Halifax house price index had recorded a revised drop of 1.8% in the prior month.
- In Switzerland, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.1% on a MoM basis in September.
- In France, trade deficit widened to EUR8.20bn in August, compared to a revised deficit of EUR8.11bn recorded in the previous month.
- In Italy, seasonally adjusted retail sales dropped 0.4% on a MoM basis in August, compared to a rise of 0.4% recorded in the previous month.
- In Germany, factory orders rose 3.9% on a MoM basis in August, more than market expectations and compared to a revised fall of 11.3% in the previous month.
- In the US, nonfarm payrolls rose by 336.00K in September, more than market expectations and compared to a revised level of 227.00K jobs in the previous month.
- In the US, the unemployment rate unexpectedly remained unchanged at 3.8% in September.
- In Canada, the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5% in September, compared to market expectations for a rise to 5.6%.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- Anglo CEO rues lack of incentives for SA mining exploration: SA is forgoing billions of rand in output as a result of the challenging business environment while a lack of incentives for mining exploration are further hobbling efforts to revive the moribund economy, according to Anglo American.