South Africa Market Review
- South African markets closed in the green yesterday, boosted by gains in banking and retail sector stocks.
- Lenders, RMB Holdings (JO:RMHJ), Standard Bank Group (JO:SBKJ) and Capitec Bank Holdings (JO:CPIJ) jumped 7.0%, 2.4% and 2.3%, respectively.
- Retailers, SPAR Group (JO:SPPJ), Shoprite Holdings (JO:SHPJ) and Clicks Group (JO:CLSJ) advanced 3.9%, 1.8% and 1.3%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Netcare (JO:NTCJ) and Adcock Ingram Holdings (JO:AIPJ) gained 2.8% and 1.2%, respectively.
- Diversified miners, Exxaro Resources (JO:EXXJ), Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ) and Anglo American (JO:AMSJ) rose 1.6%, 1.4% and 1.0%, respectively.
- On the flipside, platinum miners, Impala Platinum (JO:IMPJ) and Anglo American Platinum (JO:AMSJ) declined 2.4% and 1.4%, respectively.
- Gold miners, Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) eased 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index advanced 0.9% to close at 73,760.21.
UK Market Review
- The UK market finished weaker yesterday, as property sector stocks fell after the housing index recorded its biggest monthly fall since September.
- Home building companies, Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW), Persimmon (LON:PSN), Berkeley Group Holdings (LON:BKGH) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) shed 4.3%, 3.8%, 3.3% and 2.7%, respectively.
- Water utilities companies, United Utilities Group (LON:UU) and Severn Trent (LON:SVT) declined 1.4% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, Aviva (LON:AV) and Prudential (LON:PRU) each dropped 1.3%.
- On the other hand, miners, Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) advanced 1.1% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Travel and leisure companies, InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) and International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON:ICAG) gained 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index declined 0.1% to close at 7,257.82.
US Market Review
- US markets ended mostly higher yesterday, led by gains in technology sector stocks.
- Technology companies, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) jumped 8.5%, 2.1%, 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively.
- On the contrary, consumer goods company, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declined 3.0%, after the company revealed that it will retain a 9.5% stake in its spun off consumer health unit, Kenvue.
- Financial services company, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) eased 0.9%, after the bank said it was assessing partial divestment of its wealth business.
- The S&P 500 index rose 0.7% to settle at 4,399.77, while the DJIA index declined 0.1% to close at 34,463.69.
- The NASDAQ index climbed 1.6% to end the trading session at 13,497.59.
Asia Market Review
- Asian markets are trading higher this morning.
- In Japan, banking company, SoftBank Group has advanced 2.6%.
- On the flipside, transportation company, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO:9107) has declined 1.2%.
- In Hong Kong, real estate company, Hang Lung Properties (OTC:HLPPY) has gained 1.9%.
- On the other hand, sports products company, Anta Sports Products (HK:2020) has eased 0.9%.
- In South Korea, electronics company, LG Electronics (KS:066570) has added 0.6%.
- On the contrary, chemical company, Youl Chon Chemical (KS:008730) has edged down 11.1%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.7% higher at 31,776.06.
- The Hang Seng index has advanced 0.7% to trade at 17,752.47, while the Kospi index is trading 0.6% higher at 2,524.10.
Commodities
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices fell 0.1% to trade at $84.39/bl.
- Yesterday, Brent prices fell 0.4% to settle at $84.46/bl, amid Chinese demand concerns.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.1% to trade at $1,896.19/oz. Yesterday, gold gained 0.3% to close at $1,893.94/oz.
- Yesterday, copper rose 0.3% to close at $8,239.25/mt. Aluminium closed 0.3% higher at $2,143.82/mt.
Currencies
- Yesterday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds rose yesterday. The yield on 2030 bond rose to 10.54%. Further, the yield on the longer-dated 2040 issue rose to 12.64%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading marginally lower against the South African rand at R18.9558, while the euro is trading 0.1% higher at R20.6917. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has gained 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R24.2166.
- Yesterday, the euro advanced against most of the major currencies. In Germany, the producer price index (PPI) declined for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years in July amid drop in energy prices.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro advanced 0.2% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0917, while it has marginally gained against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8546.
Economic Updates
- In Germany, the PPI declined 1.1% on a MoM basis in July, more than market expectations and compared to a drop of 0.3% recorded in the previous month.
- In Canada, the new housing price index unexpectedly fell 0.1% on a MoM basis in July, compared to a rise of 0.1% recorded in the previous month.
Corporate Updates
South Africa
- Curro Holdings Limited (JO:COHJ): The independent schools and education services company, in its interim results, stated that revenues from contracts with customers advanced R2.39bn from R2.06bn reported in the same period of the prior year. Its diluted EPS stood at 33.40c compared with 27.60c reported in the corresponding period of the previous year.
- Oil rises on tightening supply as OPEC+ exports fall: Oil prices rose as global supply is tightening with lower exports from Saudi Arabia and Russia, offsetting nagging concerns about global demand growth amid high interest rates.