SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the green on Friday, buoyed by gains in property sector stocks.
- Real estate companies, Fortress REIT (JO:FFAJ), Attacq (JO:ATTJ), Emira Property Fund (JO:EMIJ) and Growthpoint Properties (JO:GRTJ) jumped 4.2%, 3.6%, 2.3% and 1.3%, respectively.
- Gold miners, Harmony Gold Mining Company (JO:HARJ), Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) added 1.4%, 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Banks, FirstRand (JO:FSRJ) and Capitec Bank Holdings (JO:CPIJ) advanced 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, Santam (JO:SNTJ), Sanlam (JO:SLMJ) and Old Mutual (JO:OMUJ) gained 1.4%, 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.
- On the flipside, platinum miners, Impala Platinum Holdings (JO:IMPJ) and Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ) eased 1.4% and 0.5%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index advanced 0.4% to close at 72,660.91.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market finished firmer on Friday. Energy utility companies, Centrica (LON:CNA) and SSE (LON:SSE) gained 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
- Home builders, Berkeley Group Holdings (LON:BKGH) and Persimmon (LON:PSN) advanced 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Healthcare companies, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and GSK (LON:GSK) added 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.
- On the flipside, travel and leisure companies, Whitbread (LON:WTB) and InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) shed 2.4% and 0.5%, respectively.
- Miners, Glencore (JO:GLNJ), Fresnillo (LON:FRES), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) dropped 1.8%, 1.2%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- Retailers, Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) and B&M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BMEB) eased 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index marginally advanced to close at 7,461.93.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets closed higher on Friday, buoyed by gains in chipmaker and technology sector stocks.
- Server company, Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) skyrocketed 35.9%, after the company released a stronger than expected sales outlook.
- Insurance company, Travelers (NYSE:TRV) gained 6.7%, after the company doubled its 4Q23 profits, amid lower catastrophe losses and higher underwriting gains.
- Technology companies, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) advanced 3.0%, 2.3%, 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index added 1.2% to settle at 4,839.81, while the DJIA index advanced 1.1% to close at 37,863.80.
- The NASDAQ index gained 1.7% to end the trading session at 15,310.97.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading mostly higher this morning, tracking gains in their US peers.
- In Japan, electronics company, Minebea Mitsumi (TYO:6479) has gained 3.1%.
- On the flipside, chemicals company, Kao Corporation (TYO:4452) has eased 0.9%.
- In Hong Kong, sports products company, Anta Sports Products (HK:2020) has advanced 1.4%.
- On the other hand, pharmaceutical company, Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group (HK:3692) has declined 4.2%.
- In South Korea, printed circuit boards manufacturing company, Isupetasys (KS:007660) Company has added 8.2%.
- On the contrary, engineering company, Kolon Global Corporation (KS:003075) has shed 7.5%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 1.1% higher at 36,375.56.
- The Hang Seng index is trading 1.8% lower at 15,028.41, while the Kospi index is trading 0.1% firmer at 2,474.55.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices rose 0.1% to trade at $78.63/bl.
- Yesterday, Brent prices fell 0.7% to settle at $78.56/bl, on Chinese demand concerns. Meanwhile, Baker Hughes reported that the oil rigs count fell 2 to 497 in the week ended 19 January 2024.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices declined 0.1% to trade at $2,026.58/oz. Yesterday, gold gained 0.3% to close at $2,029.09/oz, as weakness in the greenback boosted demand for the safe haven metal.
- Yesterday, copper rose 1.0% to close at $8,271.61/mt. Aluminium closed marginally lower at $2,166.15/mt.
CURRENCIES
- On Friday, the South African rand weakened against the US dollar. In the US, the Michigan consumer sentiment index surged to its highest levels since July 2021. Meanwhile, existing home sales dropped to its lowest levels in nearly 30 years in December.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds dropped on Friday. The yield on the 2030 bond dropped to 9.77%, while that for the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 12.23%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading marginally higher against the South African rand at R19.0388, while the euro is trading 0.2% higher at R20.7613. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound gained 0.2% against the South African rand to trade at R24.2040.
- On Friday, the euro strengthened against most of the major currencies. In Germany, the producer price index (PPI) fell in December. In the UK, retail sales declined to its lowest level since 2018 in December.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro advanced 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0907, while it has marginally weakened against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8579.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In the UK, retail sales dropped 3.2% on a MoM basis in December, more than market expectations and compared to a revised rise of 1.4% recorded in the prior month.
- In Germany, the producer price index (PPI) fell 1.2% on a MoM basis in December, more than market expectations for a drop of 0.5%. The PPI had dropped 0.5% in the previous month.
- In the US, existing home sales dropped 1.0% on a MoM basis in December. Existing home sales had recorded a rise of 0.8% in the prior month.
- In the US, the Michigan consumer sentiment index rose more-than-expected to a level of 78.80 in January, compared to a level of 69.70 recorded in the previous month.
- In Canada, retail sales recorded a drop of 0.2% on a MoM basis in November, compared to an advance of 0.7% in the prior month.
- The People’s Bank of China kept its key interest rate unchanged at 3.45%, in line with market expectations.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- Oil prices fall on China demand concerns: Oil prices drifted lower after a rally the day before, as geopolitical tensions and disruptions in US oil production from a cold blast were countered by concerns over slow demand growth in China.