South Africa Market Review
- South African markets closed in the red yesterday, amid higher oil prices and led by losses in retail sector stocks.
- Retailers, Cashbuild (JO:CSBJ), Pick ‘n Pay Stores (JO:PIKJ) and Mr Price Group (JO:MRPJ) dropped 3.4%, 2.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Platinum miners, Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ) and Northam Platinum (JO:NHMJ) declined 2.8% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Property developers, Redefine Properties (JO:RDFJ), Shaftesbury Capital and Growthpoint Properties (JO:GRTJ) shed 2.2%, 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively.
- On the flipside, diversified miners, Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ), Pan African Resources (JO:PANJ) and Exxaro Resources (JO:EXXJ) advanced 4.9%, 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively.
- Gold miners, AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) and Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) gained 3.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index marginally declined to close at 74,086.63.
UK Market Review
- The UK market finished firmer yesterday, amid drop in the British Pound following dismal domestic jobs data.
- Food company, Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) climbed 5.4%, after the company raised its annual profit guidance amid revival at its Primark retail chain and commendable food operation results.
- Telecommunications company, Vodafone Group (LON:VOD) and BT Group (LON:BT) added 3.0% and 2.7%, respectively.
- Banking firms, Barclays (LON:BARC), Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), NatWest Group (LON:NWG) and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) advanced 2.5%, 2.2%, 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively.
- On the other hand, paper and packaging company, Smurfit Kappa Group (LON:SKG) shed 9.8%, after the company announced merger plans with WestRock for $11.00bn.
- The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.4% to close at 7,527.53.
US Market Review
- US markets ended lower yesterday, weighed down by losses in technology sector stocks.
- Cloud services, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) plunged 13.5%, after the company issued a weaker than expected 1Q24 revenue forecast.
- Technology company, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 1.7%, after the company said it will raise its price on iPhone Pro Max for the first time.
- Peers, Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) shed 4.0%, 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively.
- On the contrary, financial services companies, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) advanced 1.9% and 1.3%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index fell 0.6% to settle at 4,461.90, while the DJIA index declined 0.1% to close at 34,645.99.
- The NASDAQ index eased 1.0% to end the trading session at 13,773.61.
Asia Market Review
- Asian markets are trading lower this morning, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.
- In Japan, banking company, SoftBank Group Corporation (TYO:9984) has declined 2.0%.
- On the flipside, transportation company, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO:9107) has advanced 3.1%.
- In Hong Kong, internet technology company, NetEase (HK:9999) (NASDAQ:NTES) has dropped 1.6%.
- On the other hand, real estate company, Longfor Group Holdings (HK:0960) has added 1.0%.
- In South Korea, distribution company, HLB Global (KS:003580) has shed 8.5%.
- On the contrary, broadcasting company, Seoul Broadcasting System (KS:034120) has jumped 11.2%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.3% lower at 32,675.89.
- The Hang Seng index has eased 0.1% to trade at 18,012.08, while the Kospi index is trading 0.8% lower at 2,536.58.
Commodities
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices marginally fell to trade at $92.02/bl, amid rise in oil inventories. The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that the crude oil inventories rose by 1.17mn bls in the week ended 8 September 2023.
- Yesterday, Brent prices rose 1.6% to a near 10-month high to settle at $92.06/bl, amid tighter supplies and after the OPEC+ forecasted robust growth in global oil demand in 2023 and 2024. Moreover, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that the global oil output would rise from 99.90mn bpd in 2022 to 101.20mn bpd in 2023 and 102.90mn bpd in 2024.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices declined 0.2% to trade at $1,908.71/oz. Yesterday, gold declined 0.4% to close at $1,913.26/oz, as a stronger dollar dented demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper rose 0.1% to close at $8,337.50/mt. Aluminium closed 0.4% lower at $2,196.35/mt.
Currencies
- Yesterday, the South African rand weakened against the US dollar. In the US, the NFIB business optimism index declined for the first time in four months in August, on continued concerns over inflation.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds were mixed yesterday. The yield on 2030 bond rose to 10.40%. Further, the yield on the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 12.61%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.1% higher against the South African rand at R18.9418, while the euro is trading 0.1% higher at R20.3516. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has gained 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R23.6452.
- Yesterday, the euro advanced against most of the major currencies. In Germany, the ZEW economic sentiment index unexpectedly improved in September. In the eurozone, the ZEW economic sentiment index declined in September. In the UK, the ILO unemployment rate rose in July.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0747, while it has marginally weakened against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8608.
Economic Updates
- In the UK, the ILO unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July, in line with expectations and compared to 4.2% recorded in the previous month.
- In the UK, average earnings including bonus climbed 8.5% in July, compared to a rise of 8.2% in the previous month.
- In Germany, the ZEW current situation index dropped to a level of -79.40 in September, more than market expectations for a drop to a level of -75.00. The ZEW current situation index had recorded a level of -71.30 in the previous month.
- In Germany, the ZEW economic sentiment index unexpectedly rose to a level of -11.40 in September, compared to a level of -12.30 recorded in the previous month.
- In the eurozone, the ZEW economic sentiment index dropped to a level of -8.90 in September, compared to a level of -5.50 recorded in the previous month.
- In the US, the NFIB business optimism index fell to a level of 91.30 in August, compared to a level of 91.90 recorded in the previous month.
- In Japan, the producer price index (PPI) rose 3.2% on a YoY basis in August, in line with expectations. The PPI had advanced 3.6% in the previous month.
Corporate Updates
South Africa
- Discovery Limited (JO:DSBPp): The financial services company, in its trading update for the year ended 30 June 2023, revealed that it expects normalised profit from operations to increase by between 22.0% and 27.0%. Moreover, basic EPS is expected to be between 3% to 8% lower as compared with 825.50c reported in the prior period. HEPS is expected to be between 3% to 8% higher as compared with 792.40c reported in the prior period. The company intends to release its annual 2023 financial results on or about 21 September 2023.
- Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon Limited (JO:WBOJ): The construction company, in its FY23 results, announced that its revenue rose to R23.77bn from R17.24bn posted in the previous year. Its basic and diluted EPS stood at R14.90, compared with a loss per share of R40.62 recorded in the previous year.
- Oil prices gain on prospect of tighter supply: Oil prices rose almost 1%, boosted by a tighter supply outlook, while investors awaited macroeconomic data that could indicate whether interest rates will rise further in the US and Europe.