Market Commentary |
News |
Research |
|
 |
The All Share Index opened higher by 50.30 points or 0.09% on Thursday as the Asian markets ended their session in positive territory. Our local bourse traded flat for most of the day, and eventually we closed 0.37% in the red. Industrials closed lower by 0.91% mostly due to a 1.58% decline in Naspers. Financials were the best performing sector and the index closed higher by 1.31%, led by Absa and Standard Bank which closed higher by 3.65% and 1.81% respectively. The gold miners closed lower by 3.58% whilst listed property shed 0.68%. On the company reporting front, Woolworths released their interim results for the 26 weeks ended 23 December 2018 and the salient features were a 1.9% increase in turnover and concession sales to R39.40bn, a decline in ROE from 20.1% to 16.6% and a 2.9% decline in HEPS to 200.4c with adjusted diluted HEPS lower by 9.2%. An interim gross dividend of 92c was declared and the stock closed lower by 2.91%. Discovery released their results for the half-year ended 31 December 2018 and the company reports a 16% increase in core new business API to R9.049bn, an 11% rise in gross inflows under management to R67.541bn and a 13% increase in embedded value to R68.025bn, with 21% of group earnings invested in new initiatives. The directors declared an interim gross dividend of 506.71233c and the stock closed firmer by 0.55%. Anglo American released their results for the full year ended 31 December 2018 and the financial highlights were that underlying EBITDA increased 4% to $9.2bn, attributable free cash flow has reached $3.2bn, profit attributable to equity shareholders increased 12% to $3.5bn, net debt has been reduced 37% since 2017 and now equates to $2.8bn. The board has proposed a final dividend of $0.51 per share, which equals 40% of second half underlying earnings, and the stock bucked the sector weakness by closing 0.53% higher. On the economic front, the Nikkei Japan Manufacturing PMI declined to 48.5 in February 2019, compared to January’s final 50.3 and market expectations of 50.4 and the latest reading pointed to the first monthly contraction in manufacturing since June 2016. Germany’s annual inflation rate was confirmed at 1.4% in January 2019, the lowest since April last year and below December’s revised figure of 1.6%, mainly due to a slowdown in energy inflation. The IHS Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.2 in February 2019 from January’s 50.5 and below market consensus of 50.3. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell by 23 000 to 216 000 in the week ending 16 February 2019 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 239 000 and compared to market expectations of 229 000. Total value traded for the day was recorded at R22.606bn |
|
 |
US stocks closed in negative territory on Thursday after the release of weak economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed softer by 0.4% and 0.35%, respectively. The Asian bourses are mostly lower this morning with the Nikkei and the Hang Seng Index both currently trading 0.26% lower, while Tencent is trading in the red by 1.1%. BHP has shed 0.42% in Australia whilst the Australian ASX is trading 0.4% in the black so far. Traders can expect a negative start to trading on our local bourse this morning. |
|
News Articles |
 |
Warren Buffett says he wants to spend Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s growing pile of cash on a giant acquisition, but he doesn’t see that happening anytime soon. |
More |
|
|
 |
An exasperated Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, tried to gently educate his boss, Donald Trump, on the meaning of a 'memorandum of understanding' in the Oval Office. |
More |
|
|
 |
Theresa May must resign as British prime minister and Conservative leader later this year after delivering Brexit, according to politicians at the highest levels of her own government. |
More |
|
|
 |
Members of Parliament used an urgent debate on the energy crisis on Thursday to campaign for the national election instead. Here's how they did it. |
More |
|
|
 |
Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX is ready to fly its first commercially-built spacecraft designed for humans to the International Space Station, NASA said Friday after a high-level agency review of the project in the final week before the flight. |
More |
|
|
 |
From Patrice Motsepe's business dealings to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's Budget Speech, here is the week that was. |
More |
|
|
 |
We’ve heard about gold theft, but coal theft is the biggest game in town. It’s costing Eskom and coal companies billions of rands a year. |
More |
|
|
 |
Swedbank was forced to backtrack on its previous assertions and has now acknowledged that it also handled suspicious transactions, which it says have been reported to the police. |
More |
|
|
 |
Zimbabwe central bank governor Dr John Mangudya has admitted prejudicing the country’s exporters by exchanging their US dollar earnings at parity with the local bond note, when rates on the parallel market were at a 400% premium. |
More |
|
|
 |
Fifteen mining companies have received notices of secondary strike action from trade union AMCU, the Minerals Council said in a statement on Friday, adding the companies would do 'everything in their power' to avert the sympathy strikes. |
More |
|
|
 |
South Africa’s central bank is unlikely to officially pursue a single point-inflation target soon even though it prefers to anchor price growth close to the 4.5% mid-point of its goal range, an adviser to Governor Lesetja Kganyago said. |
More |
|
|
 |
FNB has detected a new debit order scam, by parties known as Procall and Mzansi, and is working to pursue criminal charges. |
More |
|
|
 |
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told members of Parliament that government will appoint additional members to Eskom's board soon. He said these would be people who have engineering skills and experience in turning around ailing institutions. |
More |
|
|
 |
EOH Holdings Chief Executive Officer Stephen Van Coller is in a race against the clock to restructure the sprawling South African IT business before shareholders and lenders run out of patience. |
More |
|
|
 |
After Twentieth Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody became the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, Viacom’s Paramount Pictures is looking to find success with another legendary artist: Elton John. |
More |
|
|
 |
Alphabet’s Google will show drug-disposal locations on its Maps programme. |
More |
|
|
 |
South Africa is still considering whether to extradite Mozambique’s former finance minister, Manuel Chang, to his home country or the US, a Department of International Relations and Cooperation official said. |
More |
|
|
 |
The leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers has called for "rolling mass action" to stop the unbundling of Eskom, saying the state is trying to privatise the power utility by stealth. |
More |
|
|
 |
Absa is considering South African Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele as a potential replacement for departing Chief Executive Officer Maria Ramos, according to people familiar with the matter. |
More |
|
|
 |
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube says the country’s inflation rate, which surged to the highest annual level since a hyperinflation blowout a decade ago, is being misread. |
More |
|
|
|
|
Charts |
Indices |
Currencies |
Metals & Brent Oil |
Gainers & Losers |
Name |
Value |
Move |
DJ Ind. |
25,850.63 |
|
-103.81 |
-0.4% |
DJ Trans |
10,632.49 |
|
5.00 |
0.0% |
NASDAQ |
7,459.71 |
|
-29.36 |
-0.4% |
NYSE S and P500 INDEX |
2,774.88 |
|
-9.82 |
-0.4% |
FTSE 100 |
7,167.39 |
|
-61.23 |
-0.8% |
XETRA DAX INDEX |
6,271.85 |
|
-81.89 |
-1.3% |
DAX INDEX |
11,423.28 |
|
21.31 |
0.2% |
HONG KONG HANG SENG INDEX |
28,629.92 |
|
115.87 |
0.4% |
NIKKEI 225 INDEX |
21,425.51 |
|
-38.72 |
-0.2% |
|
Name |
Value |
Move |
ZAR/ / AUD |
9.98 |
|
0.01 |
0.1% |
ZAR/ / CHF |
14.00 |
|
-0.02 |
-0.1% |
USD/ / EUR |
1.13 |
|
0.00 |
0.0% |
ZAR/ / EUR |
15.87 |
|
0.01 |
0.1% |
USD/ / GB |
1.30 |
|
0.00 |
0.1% |
ZAR/ / GBP |
18.26 |
|
0.03 |
0.2% |
YEN/ / ZAR |
7.91 |
|
0.03 |
0.3% |
JPY/ / USD |
110.69 |
|
-0.04 |
0.0% |
ZAR/ / USD |
13.98 |
|
0.00 |
0.0% |
|
Precious Metals & Brent Oil
Name |
Value |
Move |
Brent Oil |
67.14 |
|
0.20 |
0.3% |
Palladium |
1,451.70 |
|
9.95 |
0.7% |
Platinum |
844.25 |
|
18.85 |
2.3% |
Silver |
15.89 |
|
0.13 |
0.8% |
Gold |
1,330.20 |
|
6.75 |
0.5% |
|
Spanjaard Limited |
47.9 |
SABLE PLATINUM LTD |
31.9 |
Eastern Platinum Ltd |
22.0 |
Micromega Holdings Ltd |
15.6 |
Sekunjalo Inv Ltd |
13.0 |
|
Acsion Limited |
-45.5 |
Aveng Group Limited |
-25.0 |
Pembury Lifestyle Grp |
-25.0 |
Tongaat Hulett Ltd |
-20.4 |
Etion Limited |
-17.6 |
|
|
|