South Africa Market Review
- South African markets closed in the red yesterday, led by losses in property and retail sector stocks.
- Property developers, Shaftesbury Capital, Emira Property Fund (JO:EMIJ), Resilient REIT (JO:RESJ) and NEPI Rockcastle N.V. (JO:NRPJ) dropped 5.1%, 3.4%, 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively.
- Retailers, Mr Price Group (JO:MRPJ), Pick ‘n Pay Stores (JO:PIKJ), Cie Financiere Richemont S.A. (JO:CFRJ) and SPAR Group (JO:SPPJ) declined 3.0%, 2.4%, 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, Aspen Pharmacare (JO:APNJ) and Adcock Ingram Holdings (JO:AIPJ) eased 1.6% and 0.9%, respectively.
- On the flipside, diversified miners, Kumba Iron Ore (JO:KIOJ), Exxaro Resources (JO:EXXJ), Pan African Resources (JO:PANJ) and African Rainbow Minerals (JO:ARIJ) advanced 4.8%, 4.2%, 2.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index declined 0.7% to close at 73,277.88.
UK Market Review
- The UK market finished firmer yesterday, led by gains in mining and property sector stocks.
- Miners, Fresnillo (LON:FRES), Glencore (LON:GLEN), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Anglo American (LON:AAL) jumped 5.5%, 2.3%, 2.1% and 1.6%, respectively.
- Real estate companies, Land Securities Group (LON:LAND) and Berkeley Group Holdings (LON:BKGH) advanced 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
- Paper and packaging companies, DS Smith (LON:SMDS), Smurfit Kappa Group (LON:SKG) and Mondi (LON:MNDI) gained 1.2%, 1.1% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Insurance companies, Admiral Group (LON:ADML), Prudential (LON:PRU) and Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) added 1.0%, 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
- On the other hand, retailers, JD Sports Fashion (LON:JD), J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) and Tesco (LON:TSCO) dropped 6.9%, 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
- Banking firms, NatWest Group (LON:NWG) and Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), each fell 0.9%.
- The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.2% to close at 7,270.76.
US Market Review
- US markets ended mostly lower yesterday, as investors await Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium and led by losses in banking sector stocks.
- Departmental store chain, Macy’s (NYSE:M) plunged 14.1%, after the company reported a loss in 2Q23 amid drop in sales.
- Technology companies, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shed 2.8%, 1.1% and 0.8%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) declined 2.1%, 1.1% and 1.0%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index fell 0.3% to settle at 4,387.55, while the DJIA index declined 0.5% to close at 34,288.83.
- The NASDAQ index climbed 0.1% to end the trading session at 13,505.87.
Asia Market Review
- Asian markets are trading mostly lower this morning, as Japan’s factory activity weakened.
- In Japan, cement company, Sumitomo Osaka Cement (TYO:5232) has advanced 2.8%.
- On the flipside, banking firm, SoftBank Group Corporation (TYO:9984) has declined 1.1%.
- In Hong Kong, pharmaceutical company, Hansoh Pharmaceutical (HK:3692) has shed 3.4%.
- On the other hand, insurance company, AIA group (HK:1299) has gained 1.3%.
- In South Korea, food processing company, Sempio Foods (KS:007540) has dropped 4.7%.
- On the contrary, media and broadcasting company, IHQ (KS:003560) has gained 10.1%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.3% higher at 31,962.99.
- The Hang Seng index has eased 0.1% to trade at 17,780.82, while the Kospi index is trading 0.5% lower at 2,502.69.
Commodities
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices rose 0.2% to trade at $84.23/bl.
- Yesterday, Brent prices fell 0.5% to settle at $84.03/bl, amid fears over drop in Chinese demand. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that the US crude oil inventories declined by 2.42mn bls in the week ended 18 August 2023.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.2% to trade at $1,901.14/oz. Yesterday, gold gained 0.2% to close at $1,897.00/oz, as a weaker dollar and a drop in the US Treasury yields boosted demand for the safe haven yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper rose 1.1% to close at $8,330.55/mt. Aluminium closed 1.6% higher at $2,178.74/mt.
Currencies
- Yesterday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, existing home sales declined more than expected in July, on lower inventory and higher borrowing costs. Meanwhile, the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index advanced in August.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell yesterday. The yield on 2030 bond fell to 10.48%. Further, the yield on the longer-dated 2040 issue fell to 12.58%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.1% lower against the South African rand at R18.7651, while the euro is trading 0.1% lower at R20.3677. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has declined 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R23.9069.
- Yesterday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro advanced 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0857, while it has marginally weakened against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8519.
Economic Updates
- In Switzerland, trade surplus narrowed to CHF3.13bn in July, compared to a revised surplus of CHF4.79bn recorded in the prior year.
- In the eurozone, seasonally adjusted current account surplus expanded to EUR35.84bn in June, compared to a revised surplus of EUR7.88bn in the prior month.
- In the US, existing home sales dropped 2.2% on a MoM basis in July, compared to a drop of 3.3% recorded in the previous month.
- In the US, the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index rose to a level of -7.00 in August, in line with market expectations. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index had recorded a level of -9.00 in the prior month.
- In Japan, the Jibun Bank manufacturing PMI unexpectedly advanced to a level of 49.70 in August, compared to a level of 49.60 recorded in the previous month.
- In Japan, the services PMI advanced to a level of 54.30 in August, compared to a level of 53.80 recorded in the previous month.
- In Australia, the S&P Global manufacturing PMI dropped to a level of 49.40 in August, compared to a level of 49.60 recorded in the previous month.
- In Australia, the S&P Global services PMI dropped to a level of 46.70 in August, compared to a level of 47.90 recorded in the previous month.
- In New Zealand, retail sales dropped 1.0% on a QoQ basis in 2Q23, less than market expectations for a drop of 2.6%. Retail sales had recorded a revised drop of 1.6% in the prior quarter.
Corporate Updates
South Africa
- Woolworths Holdings Limited (JO:WHLJ): The retail company, in its annual trading update for the period ended 25 June 2023, revealed that it expects EPS from total operations to be 30.0% to 40.0%, higher as compared with 387.40c recorded in the previous year. Also, it expects HEPS to be 25.0% to 35.0%, higher as compared with 398.90c recorded in the previous year.
- Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon Limited (JO:WBOJ): The construction company, in its trading update for the year ended 30 June 2023, revealed that it expects attributable EPS from total operations to be 135.0% to 138.0%, higher as compared with a loss per share of R40.62 recorded in the previous year. Also, it expects HEPS from total operations to be 139.0% to 141.0%, higher as compared with a headline loss per share of R36.93 recorded in the previous year.
- Spur Corporation Limited (JO:SURJ): The restaurant company, in its FY23 results, reported that revenues advanced 27.4% from the preceding year to R3.05bn. Its diluted EPS stood at 258.86c, compared with 143.80c recorded in the previous year.
- Aveng Limited (JO:AEGJ): The engineering company, in its annual results for the year ended 30 June 2023, indicated that revenues rose to R28.87bn from R22.53bn posted in the previous year. Its diluted loss per share stood at R131.00, compared with an EPS of R23.00 recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.
- China’s slump stalls oil price rise: Oil prices were little changed as investors stay sour on China’s economic prospects and demand from the world’s top crude importer, limiting the impact of supply cuts.