In Thursday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day up by 0.09%, the Resources 10 sector went down by 0.65%, the Financial 15 went up by 0.27%, and the Industrial 25 went up by 0.43%. The rand traded at R17.77 against the dollar, R21.47 against the pound, and R19.02 against the euro.
In economic data, South Africa's mining activity declined for the 11th month in December. The Rand showed little change after the SONA at the start of today’s trading session. To address load shedding, the President has declared a "state of disaster" and promised to appoint an electricity minister.
This morning, Spur (JO:SURJ) released a trading statement for the six months that ended on December 31, 2022. Its total group sales increased by 31.5% compared to the six months that ended in December 2021.
British American Tobacco (JO:SNHJ) released its preliminary annual results for the period ended December 31, 2022. Group revenue increased by 7.7%, while revenue from new categories increased by 40.9%
Figure 1: FTSE 100’s historical chart (Source: ThinkTrader Web)
GDP numbers for the United Kingdom came in at 0.4% YoY, narrowly missing the beginning of a technical recession; industrial production was down by 4% but better than expected at -5.3%; and manufacturing production was down by 5.7%.
