South Africa Market Review
- South African markets closed in the red on Friday, led by losses in food producers, retail and banking sector stocks.
- Food companies, RFG Holdings (JO:RFGJ), Tiger Brands (JO:TBSJ) and RCL Foods (JO:RCLJ) shed 3.9%, 2.0% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Lenders, Capitec Bank Holdings (JO:CPIJ), Standard Bank Group (JO:SBKJ) and FirstRand (JO:FSRJ) declined 3.6%, 2.3% and 1.3%, respectively.
- Retailers, Cie Financiere Richemont S.A. (JO:CFRJ), Mr Price Group (JO:MRPJ) and Clicks Group (JO:CLSJ) dropped 2.6%, 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively.
- On the flipside, pharmaceutical companies, Aspen Pharmacare (JO:APNJ) and Life Healthcare (JO:LHCJ) advanced 5.0% and 3.5%, respectively.
- Gold mining companies, Gold Fields (JO:GFIJ) and AngloGold Ashanti (JO:ANGJ) gained 3.4% and 2.8%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index declined 1.6% to close at 76,454.36.
UK Market Review
- The UK market finished weaker on Friday, amid sell off in banking sector stocks.
- Banking firms, HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA), Standard Chartered (LON:STAN), Barclays (LON:BARC) and NatWest Group (LON:NWG) dropped 4.6%, 4.5%, 3.7% and 2.5%, respectively.
- Retailers, JD Sports Fashion (LON:JD), B&M European Value Retail S.A. (LON:BMEB) and Next (LON:NXT) shed 3.1%, 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.
- Real estate companies, British Land Company (LON:BLND), Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) and Land Securities Group (LON:LAND) fell 2.3%, 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and GSK (LON:GSK) declined 1.6% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Miners, Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) dropped 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively.
- Energy companies, BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) eased 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index declined 1.7% to close at 7,748.35.
US Market Review
- US markets ended lower on Friday, led by losses in financial sector stocks following the closure of Silicon Valley Bank.
- Banking firms, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS), American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Visa (NYSE:V) dropped 4.2%, 3.7% and 1.8%, respectively.
- Software company, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) declined 3.2%, after the company reported less than expected revenue in 3Q23.
- Technology companies, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) declined 3.1%, 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
- Media and entertainment companies, Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) fell 2.8%, 2.7% and 1.7%, respectively.
- The S&P 500 index fell 1.4% to settle at 3,861.59, while the DJIA index declined 1.1% to close at 31,909.64.
- The NASDAQ index eased 1.8% to end the trading session at 11,138.89.
Asia Market Review
- Asian markets are trading mostly higher this morning.
- In Japan, automobile company, Mitsubishi Motors (TYO:7211) Corporation had dropped 6.8%.
- On the flipside, transportation company, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO:9107) has gained 2.5%.
- In Hong Kong, e-commerce company, Alibaba Group Holding (HK:9988) (NYSE:BABA) has advanced 3.3%.
- On the other hand, real estate company, Hang Lung Properties (OTC:HLPPY) has shed 1.9%.
- In South Korea, chemical company, Cosmo Chemical (KS:005420) has plunged 6.7%.
- On the contrary, pharmaceutical company, Shin Poong Pharmaceutical (KS:002870) has surged 7.8%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 1.4% lower at 27,737.43.
- The Hang Seng index has advanced 2.3% to trade at 19,756.72, while the Kospi index is trading 0.3% higher at 2,401.70.
Commodities
- At 06:00 SAST today, Brent spot prices rose 0.4% to trade at $82.69/bl.
- On Friday, Brent spot prices rose 1.5% to settle at $82.39/bl, amid drop in the US crude oil inventories. Baker Hughes reported that the US oil rigs count fell by 2 to 590 in the week ended 10 March 2023.
- On Friday, the Illinois North Central No.2 Yellow corn spot prices marginally fell to $6.32/bushel.
- At 06:00 SAST today, gold prices advanced 0.8% to trade at $1,883.18/oz. On Friday, gold gained 2% to close at $1,868.26/oz, amid drop in the US Treasury yields.
- On Friday, copper rose 0.2% to close at $8,847.00/mt. Aluminium closed 0.8% lower at $2,263.25/mt.
Currencies
- On Friday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, non-farm payrolls advanced by more than expected in February. Moreover, the unemployment rate rose in February.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell on Friday. The yield on 2026 bond fell to 8.53%. Further, the yield on the longer-dated 2030 issue fell to 10.14%.
- At 06:00 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.7% lower against the South African rand at R18.1959, while the euro is trading 0.1% higher at R19.5126. At 06:00 SAST, the British pound has marginally gained against the South African rand to trade at R22.0602.
- On Friday, the euro mostly declined against most of the major currencies. In Germany, the consumer price inflation rose in in February. In the UK, gross domestic product (GDP) rose more than expected in January.
- At 06:00 SAST, the euro advanced 0.8% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0723, while it has marginally gained against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8845.
Economic Updates
- In the UK, gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.3% on a MoM basis in January, more than market expectations for an advance of 0.1%. In the prior month, GDP had dropped 0.5%.
- In the UK, industrial production eased 0.3% on a MoM basis in January, more than market expectations for a drop of 0.2%. Industrial production had recorded a rise of 0.3% in the prior month.
- In the UK, manufacturing production dropped 0.4% on a MoM basis in January, compared to a flat reading in the prior month.
- In the UK, total trade deficit narrowed to GBP5.86bn in January, compared to a deficit of GBP7.15bn recorded in the previous month.
- In the UK, construction output dropped 1.7% on a MoM basis in January, compared to a flat reading recorded in the prior month.
- In Italy, the producer price index (PPI) unexpectedly dropped 7.5% on a MoM basis in January, compared to a rise of 2.9% recorded in the prior month.
- In France, current account deficit narrowed to EUR3.60bn in January, compared to a revised deficit of EUR7.60bn recorded in the previous month.
- In France, trade deficit narrowed to EUR12.94bn in January, compared to a revised deficit of EUR14.73bn recorded in the previous month. Markets were expecting trade deficit to expand to EUR 14.75bn.
- In Germany, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8% on a MoM basis in February, in line with market expectations. In the previous month, the CPI had advanced 1.0%.
- In the US, non-farm payrolls advanced by 311.00K in February, more than market expectations for a rise of 205.00K jobs. In the previous month, non-farm payrolls had recorded a revised level of 504.00K.
- In the US, the unemployment rate rose to 3.6% in February, compared to 3.4% recorded in the previous month.
- In Canada, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.0% in February. Markets were anticipating the unemployment rate to rise to 5.1%.
Corporate Updates
South Africa
- Netcare Limited (JO:NTCJ): The pharmaceutical company, in its trading update for the four months ended 31 January 2023, revealed that group revenue advanced 12.3%, as compared with that in the corresponding previous year. EBITDA margins continued to improve with EBITDA increasing by more than 20.0%. Also, total paid patient for its hospital and emergency services increased 13.8% compared with the corresponding previous year. For FY23, the company expects revenue to increase between 9.0% and 12.0%.
- Oil continues slide on worries about rate hikes: Oil fell for a fourth session, heading for its biggest weekly loss in five weeks on worries about the prospect of steep interest-rate hikes in the US hitting fuel demand.