SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the red on Friday, weighed down by losses in mining sector stocks.
- Gold mining companies, Harmony Gold Mining Co. (JO:HARJ), AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ), DRD Gold (JO:DRDJ) and Sibanye Stillwater (JO:SSWJ) edged down 6.7%, 3.9%, 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively.
- Platinum miners, Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ), Impala Platinum Holdings (JO:IMPJ) and Northam Platinum Holdings (JO:NPHJ) shed 3.9%, 3.1% and 2.3%, respectively.
- Telecommunications companies, Vodacom Group (JO:VODJ) and MTN Group (JO:MTNJ) declined 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
- Homebuilders, Shaftesbury Capital (JO:SHCJ), Emira Property Fund (JO:EMIJ) and Hammerson (JO:HMNJ) dropped 2.1%, 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
- On the flipside, retailer, Foschini Group (JO:TFGJ) jumped 11.3%, after the company reported surge in online turnover in the year to end-March despite challenging economic environment.
- The JSE All Share index closed 0.4% lower at 76,851.78.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market closed weaker on Friday, amid losses in mining and retail sector stocks.
- Miners, Fresnillo (LON:FRES), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), Glencore (LON:GLEN), Anglo American and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) shed 5.7%, 3.1%, 1.6%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, Prudential (LON:PRU), Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN), Admiral Group (LON:ADML) and Aviva (LON:AV) declined 4.0%, 1.7%, 1.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
- Real estate companies, Persimmon (LON:PSN), Segro (LON:SGRO), Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) and Berkeley Group Holdings (LON:BKGH) eased 3.3%, 2.4%, 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively.
- Travel and leisure companies, International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON:ICAG) and InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) fell 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively.
- On the contrary, retailer, Kingfisher (LON:KGF), J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY), Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) and Tesco (LON:TSCO) dropped 2.5%, 1.4%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.5% to close at 8,245.37.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets closed in the red on Friday, as a stronger than expected jobs data dented hopes for rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
- Pharmaceutical companies, Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) fell 2.4% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Media and entertainment companies, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Warner Bros (NASDAQ:WBD). Discovery declined 1.1% and 0.8%, respectively.
- On the other hand, financial services company, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and Visa (NYSE:V) advanced 1.5%, 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively.
- Technology companies, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) added 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. The S&P 500 index fell 0.1% to settle at 5,346.99, while the DJIA index fell 0.2% to close at 38,798.99.
- The NASDAQ index declined 0.2% to end the trading session at 17,133.13.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading mixed this morning.
- In Japan, pharmaceutical company, Sumitomo Pharma (TYO:4506) has advanced 4.1%.
- On the flipside, automobile company, Yamaha Corporation (TYO:7951) has shed 1.5%.
- In Hong Kong, markets are closed today on account of a public holiday.
- In South Korea, pharmaceutical company, SK Biopharmaceuticals (KS:326030) has dropped 4.9%.
- On the contrary, food products company, Nongshim (KS:004370) has surged 13.4%.
- On Friday, the Hang Seng index declined 0.6% to close at 18,366.95.
- Today, the Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.5% higher at 38,872.19, while the Kospi index is trading 0.6% lower at 2,705.13.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices rose 0.4% to trade at $79.92/bl.
- On Friday, Yesterday, Brent prices fell 0.3% to settle at $79.62/bl, as the latest US jobs data dampened expectations for early rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
- Additionally, the Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rigs count fell by 4 to 492 in the week ended 7 June 2024.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.2% to trade at $2,296.53/oz. On Friday, Yesterday, gold declined 3.5% to close at $2,292.71/oz, as a stronger dollar dented demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- On Friday, copper declined 0.9% to close at $9,840.00/mt. Aluminium closed 2.6% lower at $2,578.00/mt.
CURRENCIES
- On Friday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, non-farm payrolls advanced more than expected in May.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell on Friday. The yield on the 2030 bond declined to 10.48%, while that for the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 12.70%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading marginally lower against the South African rand at R18.8723, while the euro is trading 0.4% lower at R20.321. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has declined 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R24.0079.
- On Friday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies. In Germany, seasonally adjusted industrial production unexpectedly fell in April. In the eurozone, gross domestic product (GDP) advanced in 1Q24, driven by household spending along with favourable net exports.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro slipped 0.5% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0768, while it has weakened 0.4% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8465.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In the UK, the Halifax house price index recorded a drop of 0.1% on a MoM basis in May, compared to market anticipations for a rise of 0.2%.
- In France, trade deficit widened to EUR7.60bn in April, compared to a revised EUR5.38bn recorded in the previous month.
- In Germany, seasonally adjusted industrial production dropped 0.1% on a MoM basis in April, compared to market expectations for a rise of 0.3%. Industrial production had registered a drop of 0.4% in the previous month.
- In eurozone, seasonally adjusted final gross domestic product (GDP) recorded a rise of 0.3% on a QoQ basis in 1Q24, in line with market expectations and compared to a revised drop of 0.1% in the prior month.
- In the US, non-farm payrolls advanced by 272.00K in May, more than market expectations and compared to a revised rise of 165.00K jobs in the prior month.
- In the US, the unemployment rate registered an unexpected rise of 4.0% in May, compared to a level of 3.9% in the prior month.
- In Canada, the unemployment rate rose to 6.2% in May, compared to a reading of 6.1% in the prior month.
- In Japan, annualized GDP dropped 1.8% on a QoQ basis in 1Q24, less than market expectations for a drop of 1.9%. GDP had recorded a rise of 0.4% in the previous quarter.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- The Foschini Group Limited (JO:TFGJ): The retail company, in its FY24 results, reported revenues of R60.12bn higher from R55.21bn posted in the previous year. Its diluted EPS eased 0.2% from the prior year to 928.70c.
- Oil inches higher on OPEC+ output reassurances: Oil prices ticked higher, as reassurances from OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia and Russia indicating readiness to pause or reverse output agreements, but markets were headed for their third consecutive weekly losses.