South Africa Market Review
- South African markets closed in the red yesterday, led by losses in retail and mining sector stocks.
- Retailers, Pick n Pay Stores (JO:PIKJ), Truworths International (JO:TRUJ), Mr Price Group (JO:MRPJ) and Foschini Group (JO:TFGJ) shed 3.0%, 2.1%, 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
- Diversified miners, Exxaro Resources (JO:EXXJ), Pan African Resources (JO:PANJ) and African Rainbow Minerals (JO:ARIJ) dropped 1.5%, 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
- Real estate companies, Fortress REIT (JO:FFAJ), Redefine Properties (JO:RDFJ) and NEPI Rockcastle N.V. (JO:NRPJ) declined 2.8%, 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively.
- On the flipside, chemicals companies, Omnia Holdings (JO:OMNJ) and AECI (JO:AFEJ) advanced 2.5% and 1.1%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, Alexander Forbes Group Holdings (JO:AFHJ) and Transaction Capital (JO:TCPJ) added 2.0% and 0.6%, respectively.
- The JSE All Share index dropped 0.1% to close at 78,261.65.
UK Market Review
- The UK market finished firmer yesterday, buoyed by gains in banking and mining sector stocks.
- Banks, HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA), Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) and NatWest Group (LON:NWG) gained 1.9%, 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.
- Mining companies, Anglo American (LON:AAL), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) advanced 1.8%, 1.6%, 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
- Travel and leisure companies, Whitbread (LON:WTB) and InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) added 1.6% and 0.7%, respectively.
- Homebuilders, Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) rose 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively.
- On the contrary, defence and aerospace companies, Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) Holdings and BAE Systems (LON:BAES) shed 2.2% and 0.7%, respectively.
- The FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to close at 7,777.70.
US Market Review
- US markets ended stronger yesterday, led by gains in technology sector stocks and as investors assessed progress in US debt ceiling talks.
- Technology companies, Meta, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) advanced 2.9%, 2.2%, 0.8%, respectively.
- Financial services companies, American Express (NYSE:AXP), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) & Company and Visa (NYSE:V) gained 1.4%, 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.
- On the other hand, Oneok (NYSE:OKE) shed 9.1%, after the company entered into an agreement to buy Magellan Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:MMP) for $18.80bn in cash and stock.
- The S&P 500 index added 0.3% to settle at 4,136.28, while the DJIA index advanced 0.1% to close at 33,348.60.
- The NASDAQ index gained 0.7% to end the trading session at 12,365.21.
Asia Market Review
- Asian markets are trading higher this morning. In Japan, paper company, Nippon Paper Industries (TYO:3863) has gained 3.3%.
- On the flipside, automobile company, Suzuki Motor Corporation (TYO:7269) has shed 5.0%.
- In Hong Kong, pharmaceutical company, Sino Biopharmaceutical (HK:1177) has advanced 1.7%.
- On the other hand, life insurance company, China Life Insurance (HK:2628) has declined 1.1%.
- In South Korea, industrial fibre products company, Il Jeong Industrial has jumped 15.7%.
- On the contrary, security systems company, Hitron Systems (KS:019490) has shed 9.5%.
- The Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.7% higher at 29,828.71.
- The Hang Seng index has advanced 0.6% to trade at 20,081.87, while the Kospi index is trading 0.3% higher at 2,486.36.
Commodities
- At 05:30 SAST today, Brent prices fell 2.1% to trade at $73.64/bl.
- Yesterday, Brent prices rose 1.4% to settle at $75.23/bl, on supply concerns after wildfires raged in Alberta, Canada.
- At 05:30 SAST today, gold prices declined 0.2% to trade at $2,014.85/oz. Yesterday, gold gained 0.4% to close at $2,018.41/oz, as a weaker greenback boosted demand for the precious yellow metal.
- Yesterday, copper declined 0.3% to close at $8,218.25/mt. Aluminium closed 0.8% higher at $2,262.85/mt.
Currencies
- Yesterday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar. In the US, the NY State manufacturing index sharply dropped in May.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell yesterday. The yield on 2026 bond fell to 9.40%. Further, the yield on the longer-dated 2030 issue fell to 10.74%.
- At 05:30 SAST, the US dollar is trading 0.1% higher against the South African rand at R19.0436, while the euro is trading 0.1% higher at R20.7209. At 05:30 SAST, the British pound has gained 0.1% against the South African rand to trade at R23.8599.
- Yesterday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies. In Germany, wholesale price index dropped in April. In the eurozone, seasonally adjusted industrial production declined more than expected in March.
- At 05:30 SAST, the euro advanced 0.1% against the US dollar to trade at $1.0883, while it has gained 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.8685.
Economic Updates
- In Germany, the wholesale price index dropped 0.4% on a MoM basis in April, less than market expectations and compared to a rise of 0.2% recorded in the prior month.
- In the eurozone, seasonally adjusted industrial production registered a drop of 4.1% on a MoM basis in March, more than market expectations for a drop of 2.5%. In the previous month, industrial production had advanced 1.5%.
- In the US, the NY Empire State manufacturing index declined to a level of -31.80 in May, compared to a level of 10.80 recorded in the prior month.
- In China, industrial production registered a rise of 5.6% on a YoY basis in April, less than market expectations and compared to an advance of 3.9% recorded in the prior month.
- In China, retail sales climbed 18.4% on a MoM basis in April, compared to an advance of 10.6% recorded in the prior month. Market anticipations were for retail sales to advance 22.0%.
Corporate Updates
South Africa
- Vodacom Group Limited (JO:VODJ): The telecommunication company, in its FY23 results, indicated that its revenue rose to R119.17bn from R102.74bn posted in the previous year. Its diluted EPS decreased 6.4%from the prior year to 921.00c.
- Kap Limited (JO:KAPJ): The company in its trading update for the first ten months to 30 April 2023, announced that its EPS is expected to be between 49.20c and 21.10c, as compared with 70.30c reported in the prior year. Its HEPS is expected to be between 52.10c and 22.30c, as compared with 74.40c reported in the previous year.
- Raubex Group Limited (JO:RBXJ): The engineering company, in its FY23 results, announced that its revenue advanced to R15.31bn from R11.58bn posted in the prior year. Its diluted EPS rose 27.6% to 388.90c.
- Dipula Income Fund (JO:DIBJ) Limited: The real estate investment trust company, in its trading update for the six months ended 28 February 2023, stated that distributable earnings per share are expected to be R256.65mn, as compared with R275.73mn posted in the same period of the prior year.
- Altron Limited (JO:AELJ): The information technology company, announced in its annual results for the year ended 28 February 2023, revealed that revenues from continuous operations rose 19.3%, from the prior year to R9.46bn. Its diluted EPS stood at 35.00c.