SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the green yesterday, led by gains in retail sector stocks.
- Retailers, Shoprite Holdings (JO:SHPJ). Pick ‘n Pay Stores (JO:PIKJ) and Clicks Group (JO:CLSJ) advanced 2.8%, 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively.
- Diversified miners, Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ), Exxaro Resources (JO:EXXJ) and Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) gained 2.0%, 1.3% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Property developers, Attacq (JO:ATTJ), Growthpoint Properties (JO:GRTJ) and Equites Property Fund (JO:EQUJ) rose 1.9%, 1.2% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Telecommunications companies, MTN (JO:MTNJ) group and Vodacom Group (JO:VODJ) added 1.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
- On the flipside, platinum miners, Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ), Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ) and Northam Platinum (JO:NPHJ) dropped 2.3%, 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Aspen Pharmacare (JO:APNJ) and Netcare (JO:NTCJ) shed 2.2% and 0.7%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index advanced 0.4% to close at 73,271.44.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market finished firmer yesterday, boosted by upbeat domestic corporate results.
- Banking firms, Standard Chartered (LON:STAN), Barclays (LON:BARC), HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) and Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) advanced 2.9%, 2.3%, 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
- Airlines company, easyJet (LON:EZJ) gained 2.3%, after the company reported an improvement in winter performance on growing demand and stated that its winter losses narrowed by more than GBP50.00mn over the six months through March.
- Water utilities companies, Severn Trent (LON:SVT) and United Utilities Group (LON:UU) rose 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
- Energy utilities company, National Grid (LON:NG) gained 1.7%, after the company upgraded its FY24 profit outlook.
- Retailers, B&M European Value Retail SA (LON:BMEB), J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) and JD Sports Fashion (LON:JD) added 1.4%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.4% to close at 7,877.05.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets ended mostly lower yesterday, as investors assessed latest batch of domestic corporate earnings results.
- Credit reporting agency, Equifax (NYSE:EFX) plunged 8.5%, after the company issued dismal revenue outlook for 2Q24.
- Healthcare companies, HCA (NYSE:HCA) Healthcare and Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) shed 4.5% and 4.0%, respectively.
- Technology companies, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) dropped 1.8%, 1.6% and 0.9%, respectively.
- On the contrary, automotive parts company, Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) surged 11.2%, after the company raise its annual profit guidance.
- The S&P 500 index fell 0.2% to settle at 5,011.12, while the DJIA index advanced 0.1% to close at 37,775.38.
- The NASDAQ index eased 0.5% to end the trading session at 15,601.50.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading lower this morning, after Israel carried out operations in Iran.
- In Japan, electronics company, Renesas Electronics (TYO:6723) has plunged 7.3%.
- On the flipside, pharmaceuticals company, Astellas Pharma (TYO:4503) has gained 1.4%.
- In Hong Kong, consumer electronics company, Xiaomi Corporation (HK:1810) has shed 4.4%.
- On the other hand, mining company, Zijin Mining Group (HK:2899) has advanced 1.5%.
- In South Korea, infrastructure support services company, Doosan Corporation (KS:000157) has plunged 10.0%.
- On the contrary, shipping company, Heung-A-Shipping (KS:003280) has surged 16.9%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 3.3% lower at 36,818.81.
- The Hang Seng index has declined 1.8% to trade at 16,097.74, while the Kospi index is trading 2.4% lower at 2,571.55.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices rose 2.4% to trade at $89.19/bl, after a sharp escalation in Middle East conflicts.
- Yesterday, Brent prices fell 0.2% to settle at $87.11/bl, as the US announced sanctions on Iran and as Venezuela lost a key US license to export oil.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.4% to trade at $2,387.33/oz. Yesterday, gold gained 0.7% to close at $2,378.25/oz, as escalating Middle East tensions boosted demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper rose 2.3% to close at $9,651.83/mt. Aluminium closed 1.1% higher at $2,614.67/mt.
CURRENCIES
- Yesterday, the South African rand weakened against the US dollar. In the US, the number of initial jobless claims remained unchanged in the week ended 12 April 2024. Meanwhile, existing home sales declined in March.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell yesterday. The yield on the 2030 bond declined to 10.95%, while that for the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 13.31%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.7% higher against the South African rand at R19.2958, while the euro is trading 0.4% higher at R20.4595. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has gained 0.2% against the South African rand to trade at R23.8708.
- Yesterday, the euro mostly declined against most of the major currencies. In the eurozone, construction output improved for a third consecutive month in February.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0638, while it has gained 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8566.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In Switzerland, trade surplus narrowed to CHF3.54bn in March, compared to a revised surplus of GBP3.68bn recorded in the previous month.
- In the eurozone, seasonally adjusted current account surplus narrowed to EUR29.50bn in February, compared to a revised surplus of EUR39.30bn recorded in the prior month.
- In the US, initial jobless claims unexpectedly remained unchanged at a level of 212.00K in the week ended 12 April 2024.
- In the US, existing home sales dropped 4.3% on a MoM basis in March, compared to a rise of 9.5% recorded in the previous year.
- In Japan, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.7% on a YoY basis in March, compared to a rise of 2.8% recorded in the prior month.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- PSG Financial Services Ltd: The financial services company, in its FY23 results, indicated that insurance revenue rose to R2.26bn from R1.87bn posted in the previous year. Its diluted EPS increased 13.2% from the same period of the prior year to 80.40c.
- Oceana Group Limited (JO:OCEJ): The fishing company, in its trading update for the six months ended 31 March 2024, revealed that it expects EPS to be between 94.0% and 104.0%, higher as compared with 295.40c recorded in the previous year. Also, it expects HEPS to be between 89.0% to 99.0%, higher as compared with 299.10c recorded in the previous year. Further, the group intends to release its results for the six months ended 31 March 2024 on or about 10 June 2024.
- Oil steady amid easing Middle East tension: Oil prices were little changed after a 3.0% drop in the previous session as the market remains concerned about demand in 2024 and on signs that a wider conflict in the key Middle East producing region could be avoided.