SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the green yesterday, boosted by gains in mining sector stocks.
- Diversified mining companies, Exxaro Resources (JO:EXXJ), African Rainbow Minerals (JO:ARIJ), Merafe Resources (JO:MRFJ) and Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ) surged 6.1%, 4.4%, 2.2% and 1.9%, respectively.
- Food companies, RCL Foods (JO:RCLJ), Famous Brands (JO:FBRJ), AVI (JO:AVIJ) and Tiger Brands (JO:TBSJ) jumped 2.4%, 1.7%, 1.5% and 0.7%, respectively.
- On the flipside, platinum miners, Impala Platinum Holdings (JO:IMPJ) and Northam Platinum (JO:NPHJ) edged down 4.2% and 2.0%, respectively.
- Banks, Capitec Bank Holdings (JO:CPIJ), Nedbank Group (JO:NEDJ) and Absa Group (JO:ABGJ) shed 3.4%, 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Gold miners, Sibanye Stillwater (JO:SSWJ) and Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) declined 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index marginally advanced to close at 75,520.38.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market finished firmer yesterday, helped by gains in Tesco (LON:TSCO).
- Groceries company, Tesco (LON:TSCO) gained 3.3%, after the company reported an increase in in annual profits and volumes, with surging pre-tax profits.
- Moreover, the company anticipates a further increase in profits, citing early indications of improving consumer sentiment. Peer, J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) added 0.9%.
- Energy companies, Shell (LON:RDSa) and BP (LON:BP) advanced 1.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
- On the other hand, real estate companies, Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), British Land (LON:BLND) Co and Land Securities Group (LON:LAND) shed 2.1%, 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, Old Mutual (JO:OMUJ), St. James's Place (LON:SJP), Prudential (LON:PRU) and Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) declined 2.9%, 2.1%, 1.2% and 0.7%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% to close at 7,961.21.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets ended sharply lower yesterday, as stubborn US inflation data dented hopes for early rate cuts.
- Technology companies, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) dropped 3.0%, 1.1%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS), American Express (NYSE:AXP), JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), and Visa (NYSE:V) shed 2.4%, 1.0%, 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Food companies, Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG), General Mills (NYSE:GIS) and Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) declined 2.2%, 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
- On the contrary, Energy companies, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) added 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index fell 0.9% to settle at 5,160.64, while the DJIA index declined 1.1% to close at 38,461.51.
- The NASDAQ index eased 0.8% to end the trading session at 16,170.36.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading mostly lower this morning, amid concerns surrounding rate cuts.
- In Japan, E-commerce company, Mercari (TYO:4385) has declined 2.8%
- On the contrary, electric services company, Osaka Gas Co. (TYO:9532) has added 3.6%.
- In Hong Kong, internet company, NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) has shed 3.8%.
- On the flipside, food company, WH Group (HK:0288) has advanced 2.2%.
- In South Korea, electronics company, Sunny Electronics (KS:004770) has gained 8.6%.
- On the other hand, LG Electronics (KS:066570) has eased 1.1%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.5% lower at 39,383.73.
- The Hang Seng indexhas declined 1.0% to trade at 16,973.38, while the Kospi index is trading marginally higher at 2,706.00.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices rose 0.3% to trade at $90.78/bl, amid escalation in Middle East tensions.
- Yesterday, Brent prices rose 1.2% to settle at $90.48/bl, after three sons of a Hamas leader were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, adding to concerns that ceasefire talks might stop.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.6% to trade at $2,345.85/oz. Yesterday, gold declined 0.8% to close at $2,332.79/oz, as a stronger greenback and rise in the US Treasury yields dented demand for the precious yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper declined 0.6% to close at $9,240.30/mt. Aluminium closed 0.2% lower at $2,456.00/mt.
CURRENCIES
- Yesterday, the South African rand weakened against the US dollar. In the US, the consumer price inflation rose more than expected in March.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds rose yesterday. The yield on the 2030 bond rose to 10.82%, while that for the longer-dated 2040 issue rose to 13.20%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.2% lower against the South African rand at R18.7342, while the euro is trading 0.2% lower at R20.1349. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has declined 0.2% against the South African rand to trade at R23.5092.
- Yesterday, the euro mostly declined against most of the major currencies.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro advanced 0% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0749, while it has weakened 0% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8567.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In the UK, house price balance registered a rise to -4.0% in March, compared to a reading of -10.0% recorded in the prior month.
- In Italy, seasonally adjusted retail sales registered a rise of 0.1% on a MoM basis in February, less than market expectation and compared to a flat reading in the previous month.
- In the US, seasonally adjusted consumer price index (CPI) climbed 0.4% in March on a MoM basis, higher than market expectations for an advance of 0.3%. The CPI had recorded a rise of 0.4% in the previous month.
- In the US, the MBA mortgage applications recorded a rise of 0.1% on a weekly basis, in the week ended 05 April 2024. In the prior week, the number of mortgage applications had fallen 0.6%.
- The Bank of Canada kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.0%.
- In Canada, building permits climbed 9.3% on a MoM basis in February, compared to market expectations of a fall of 4.5%. In the previous month, building permits had registered a revised rise of 12.9%.
- In China, the CPI rose 0.1% on a YoY basis in March, less than expectations and compared to a 0.7% rise in the prior month.
- In China, the producer price index (PPI) dropped -2.8% on a YoY basis in March, in line with market expectations and compared to -2.7% recorded in the prior month.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- Afrimat Limited (JO:AFTJ): The mining company, announced that the remaining condition precedent of the Share Purchase Agreement with Caricement B.V., in terms of which the company acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Lafarge South Africa Holdings Proprietary, has been fulfilled and has become unconditional on 10 April 2024, and the Acquisition will be closed by no later than 24 April 2024.
- Reunert (JO:RLOJ) to combine IQbusiness and +OneX: Reunert will merge its IQbusiness and +OneX business units, bringing together together almost 1,500 team members and creating a single brand.