SOUTH AFRICA MARKET REVIEW
- South African markets closed in the red yesterday, amid global risk aversion and concerns over the upcoming US election.
- Diversified miners, Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ), Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) and Merafe Resources (JO:MRFJ) dropped 2.9%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, Sanlam (JO:SLMJ), Old Mutual (JO:OMUJ) and Discovery (JO:DSBPp) declined 1.6%, 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
- Telecommunications companies, MTN Group (JO:MTNJ) and Telkom SA SOC (JO:TKGJ) shed 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
- On the flipside, gold miners, Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ), Harmony Gold Mining Company (JO:HARJ), Sibanye Stillwater (JO:SSWJ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) advanced 5.1%, 4.4%, 3.3% and 2.6%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Life Healthcare Group (JO:LHCJ) and Netcare (JO:NTCJ) gained 2.3% and 2.2%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index declined 0.1% to close at 87,076.56.
UK MARKET REVIEW
- The UK market finished weaker yesterday, as investors await insights from the Bank of England (BoE) officials later this week.
- Insurance companies, Prudential (LON:PRU), Admiral Group (LON:ADML) and Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) dropped 2.4%, 1.8% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Retailers, JD Sports Fashion (LON:JD), Tesco (LON:TSCO) and J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) declined 1.9%, 1.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
- Real estate companies, Persimmon (LON:PSN), Land Securities Group (LON:LAND), Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) and LondonMetric Property (LON:LMPL) shed 1.8%, 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively.
- Water utilities companies, Severn Trent (LON:SVT) and United Utilities Group (LON:UU) fell 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively.
- On the other hand, energy companies, BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) advanced 1.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index declined 0.5% to close at 8,318.24.
US MARKET REVIEW
- US markets ended mostly lower yesterday, amid jump in the US Treasury Yields and ahead of major corporate earnings results.
- Homebuilders, Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN), D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) and Pulte Group (NYSE:PHM) dropped 4.4%, 4.3% and 3.2%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, American Express (NYSE:AXP), Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS), Visa (NYSE:V) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) declined 2.2%, 2.0%, 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Merck & Company (NYSE:MRK) and Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) shed 2.2% and 1.5%, respectively.
- On the contrary, semiconductor companies, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) advanced 4.1% and 1.2%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index fell 0.2% to settle at 5,853.98, while the DJIA index declined 0.8% to close at 42,931.60.
- The NASDAQ index climbed 0.3% to end the trading session at 18,540.01.
ASIA MARKET REVIEW
- Asian markets are trading mostly lower this morning, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.
- In Japan, consumer credit and finance services company, Credit Saison (TYO:8253) has declined 2.7%.
- On the flipside, automobile company, Mitsubishi Motors (TYO:7211) Corporation has gained 1.2%.
- In Hong Kong, automobile company, Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) has jumped 6.6%.
- On the other hand, consumer electronics company, Lenovo Group (HK:0992) has shed 2.8%.
- In South Korea, packaging company, Dongwon Systems Corporation (KS:014825) has dropped 5.8%.
- On the contrary, semiconductor products, AUK Corporation (KS:017900) has surged 12.3%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 1.4% lower at 38,399.47.
- The Hang Seng index has gained 0.2% to trade at 20,512.16, while the Kospi index is trading 1.2% lower at 2,573.24.
COMMODITIES
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices fell 0.3% to trade at $74.09/bl.
- Yesterday, Brent prices rose 1.7% to settle at $74.29/bl, due to heightened supply concerns from ongoing Middle East conflicts and geopolitical tensions.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.5% to trade at $2,732.52/oz. Yesterday, gold marginally declined to close at $2,719.65/oz, as a stronger dollar and a rise in the US Treasury yields dented demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper declined 0.9% to close at $9,420.59/mt. Aluminium closed 0.2% higher at $2,595.50/mt.
CURRENCIES
- Yesterday, the South African rand weakened against the US dollar.
- The yield on benchmark bonds rose yesterday. The yield on the SA 10-year generic bond climbed to 10.63%, while that for SA 20-year generic bond advanced to 11.40%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.1% higher against the South African rand at R17.6248, while the euro is trading 0.1% higher at R19.0635. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has gained 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R22.8966.
- Yesterday, the euro mostly declined against most of the major currencies. In Germany, the producer price index (PPI) dropped less than expected in September.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro slightly slipped against the US dollar to trade at $1.0817, while it has weakened 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8326.
ECONOMIC UPDATES
- In Germany, the producer price index (PPI) dropped 0.5% on a MoM basis in September, less than market expectations for a drop of 0.2%. The PPI had recorded a rise of 0.2% in the prior month.
- In New Zealand, trade deficit narrowed to N$2.11bn in September, compared to a revised deficit of N$2.31bn recorded in the previous month.
CORPORATE UPDATES
SOUTH AFRICA
- South32 (JO:S32J) maintains production guidance for all its ops: Diversified mining and metals group South32 has maintained annual production guidance for all its operations with a strong start to the year in aluminium and a 20.0% rise in copper equivalent volumes from Sierra Gorda.