SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the green on Friday, boosted by gains in financial and retail sector stocks.
- Insurance companies, Old Mutual (JO:OMUJ), Discovery and Sanlam (JO:SLMJ) jumped 7.5%, 5.8% and 3.8%, respectively.
- Retailers, Mr Price (JO:MRPJ), Pick ‘n Pay Stores (JO:PIKJ), Foschini Group (JO:TFGJ) and Shoprite Holdings (JO:SHPJ) advanced 6.4%, 6.1%, 4.9% and 4.5%, respectively.
- Lenders, Standard Bank Group (JO:SBKJ), Nedbank Group (JO:NEDJ) and FirstRand (JO:FSRJ) gained 5.6%, 4.3% and 2.9%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Adcock Ingram Holdings (JO:AIPJ), Netcare (JO:NTCJ) and Life Healthcare (JO:LHCJ) rose 5.0%, 4.5% and 3.9%, respectively.
- On the contrary, platinum miners, Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ) and Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ) dropped 2.5% and 2.0%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index advanced 0.9% to close at 77,053.78.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market finished weaker for a third consecutive session yesterday, ahead of key economic data.
- Water utilities companies, Severn Trent (LON:SVT) and United Utilities Group (LON:UU) dropped 3.6% and 2.4%, respectively.
- Retailers, Ocado Group (LON:OCDO) and Tesco (LON:TSCO) declined 2.7% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Miners, Glencore (LON:GLEN), Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) fell 1.4%, 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, amid weaker Chinese industrial data.
- Energy utilities companies, SSE (LON:SSE) and National Grid (LON:NG) eased 1.6% and 0.7%, respectively.
- On the other hand, banking firms, Barclays (LON:BARC), HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) and Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) advanced 1.4%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, both, Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) and Admiral Group (LON:ADML) gained 1.3% each.
- The FTSE 100 index declined 0.1% to close at 8,142.15.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets ended higher yesterday, boosted by gains technology sector stocks amid artificial intelligence optimism.
- Software company, Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) jumped 6.5%, after Starboard Value disclosed $500.00mn stake in the company.
- Semiconductor companies, Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) advanced 5.4%, 5.1% and 4.6%, respectively.
- Technology companies, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 2.0%, 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, American Express (NYSE:AXP), Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) rose 1.5%, 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.
- Media and entertainment companies, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) added 1.6% and 1.0%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index rose 0.8% to settle at 5,473.23, while the DJIA index advanced 0.5% to close at 38,778.10.
- The NASDAQ index climbed 1.0% to end the trading session at 17,857.02.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading higher this morning, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.
- In Japan, chemical company, Nissan Chemical (TYO:4021) Corporation has advanced 3.9%.
- On the flipside, pharmaceutical company, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO:4502) has shed 3.0%.
- In Hong Kong, consumer electronics company, Lenovo Group (HK:0992) has gained 2.4%.
- On the other hand, automobile company, Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) has declined 2.7%.
- In South Korea, automotive company, Hyundai Motor (KS:005380) has surged 3.1%, on the back of the news that the company plans to list its India unit in Mumbai.
- On the contrary, pharmaceutical company, Kukje Pharma (KS:002720) has dropped 4.6%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 1.1% higher at 38,504.11.
- The Hang Seng index has advanced 0.3% to trade at 17,985.05, while the Kospi index is trading 0.8% higher at 2,766.01.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices fell 0.2% to trade at $84.1/bl.
- Yesterday, Brent prices rose 2.0% to settle at $84.25/bl, amid optimism about strong fuel demand.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.3% to trade at $2,324.90/oz. Yesterday, gold declined 0.6% to close at $2,318.87/oz, as a stronger dollar dented demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper declined 1.8% to close at $9,476.65/mt. Aluminium closed 0.8% lower at $2,497.64/mt.
CURRENCIES
- Yesterday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, the NY Empire State manufacturing index rose more than expected in June.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell on Friday. The yield on the 2030 bond declined to 10.08%, while that for the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 12.34%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.1% higher against the South African rand at R18.2666, while the euro is trading marginally lower at R19.5856. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has slightly declined against the South African rand to trade at R23.1891.
- Yesterday, the euro mostly advanced against most of the major currencies.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0723, while it has weakened 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8446.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In the UK, the Rightmove house price index recorded a flat reading on a MoM basis in June, compared to a rise of 0.8% recorded in the prior month.
- In Italy, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% on MoM basis in May, in line with market expectations. The CPI had recorded a rise of 0.1% in the previous month.
- In the eurozone, seasonally adjusted trade surplus widened to EUR19.40bn in April, compared to a revised surplus of EUR17.20bn recorded in the prior month.
- In the US, the Michigan consumer sentiment index unexpectedly fell to a level of 65.60 in June, compared to a level of 69.10 in the previous month.
- In the US, the NY Empire state manufacturing index rose to a level of -6.00 in June, more than market expectations for a rise to a level of -9.00. The NY Empire state manufacturing index had recorded a level of -15.60 in the previous month.
- In China, retail sales rose 3.7% on a YoY basis in May, more than market expectations for a rise of 3.0%. Retail sales had recorded a rise of 2.3% in the previous month.
- In China, industrial production rose 5.6% on a YoY basis in May, less than market expectations and compared to a rise of 6.7% in the prior month.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- Time for SA leaders to right the ship, says Ninety One (JO:NY1J) CEO: The CEO of asset management major Ninety One, one of the largest investors in SA’s equity and bond markets, says uprooting corruption and growing the economy should be the top priority for the new administration.