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Rand consolidates after US data
The rand was slightly stronger against the US dollar on Wednesday afternoon, after the US trade deficit narrowed for a second straight month in May.
According to data released on Wednesday‚ the US deficit in international trade of goods and services decreased 3.8% to $48.68bn from an upwardly revised $50.60bn the month before. The April trade gap was originally reported as $50.06bn.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds stay firm on offshore demand
July 11, 2012--South African bonds were firm in midday trade on Wednesday on continuing strong demand for South African bonds from offshore.
“Offshore demand remains strong. That is setting up a virtuous cycle as that feeds through into a stronger rand‚ which means the foreigners get more bucks for their SA assets‚” a local trader said.
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Source: FIN24
JSE a tad higher at close
July 10, 2012--The JSE ended marginally higher on Tuesday, giving up most of its earlier gains after a fairly volatile day.
At 17:00 local time‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.20% at 33 998.60 points‚ with resources slipping 0.10%‚ but gold shares lifting 1.46% and platinum counters inching up 0.11%.
Financials edged up 0.17%‚ but banking stocks shaved off 0.19%‚ while industrials lifted 0.37%
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Source: FIN24
Rand firmer on more positive EU outlook
July 10, 2012--After a depressing run since last week the rand maintained a positive bias in afternoon trade as uncertainties in the eurozone eased on positive news coming out of the UK and Spain.
The UK data pointed towards an improvement on trade deficit. The latest data showed that exports rose at their fastest pace in more than two years in May‚ while eurozone finance ministers were reported to have agreed on an assistance package for Spain's banks.
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Source: FIN24
JSE tracks global markets weaker
July 9, 2012--The JSE extended its losses in late trade on Monday, with the downside led by mining shares. The local market is being driven by negative headlines coming out of the US, Europe and China.
At 16:51 local time‚ when the JSE data feed stopped‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.87% at 33 930.00 points‚ with resources losing 1.47%‚ gold shares shedding 1.67% and platinum counters down 1.45%.
Financials were flat (-0.04%)‚ while banking stocks gained 0.39% but industrials slid 0.84%.
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Source: FIN24
Moribund EU economy continues to hit rand
July 9, 2012--The uncertainty over the moribund eurozone economy continued to put pressure on the rand in afternoon trade. The local currency was weaker on depressed global cues, tracking the euro, and awaiting developments from Europe.
“The rand has been on the back-foot since last week‚ maintaining a weaker bias. It is governed by international developments at the moment‚ being driven by what is coming out of Europe. We’ll also be watching the Fed and Chinese GDP later in the week‚” Michael Keenan of Absa Capital said.
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Source: FIN24
SADC stock exchanges work together towards links, shared skills and better visibility
July 6, 2012--The 10 stock exchanges of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are working together to increase the effectiveness of their markets.
The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) has agreed to concentrate on 6 priority areas in support of regional moves to more efficient capital markets.
The stock exchanges will explore ways to use technology to link their trading and order systems and work together to ensure clearing and settlement systems align with global standards adopted in April. They are working closely with SADC institutions to support development of regional systems, including payment and will boost visibility of trading data and enhance their joint website (www.cossesadc.org), launched in April by the JSE and I-Net Bridge. The bourses will also pool resources to accelerate training and skills development for capital markets staff.
CoSSE members are Botswana Stock Exchange, Malawi Stock Exchange, Stock Exchange of Mauritius, Bolsa de Valores de Moçambique, Namibian Stock Exchange, South Africa’s JSE Ltd, Swaziland Stock Exchange, Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange of Tanzania, Zambia’s Lusaka Stock Exchange, and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. They met on 25 June in Gaborone, Botswana in a meeting convened by CoSSE with support from SADC Secretariat.
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Source: African Capital Markets News
Rand under pressure, risk appetite low
July 6, 2012--The rand started the week under slight pressure alongside other emerging market currencies on Monday, with recent data pointing to a weak global economic outlook which should keep risk appetite in check.
The rand was at R8.2675 to the dollar by 06:40 GMT, down 0.42% from Friday’s close at R8.2333.
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Source: FIN24
Central African Currency Union Targets Closer Regional Ties
Macroeconomic performance good last year in uncertain global economy
Vulnerabilities with region's financial sector are source of concern
Non-oil economic activity constrained by inadequate infrastructure
July 5, 2012--High oil prices have enabled the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) to accumulate foreign reserves and comfortably finance an ambitious investment program, maintaining growth while keeping debt in check.
But, the IMF said in its regular assessment of the currency union’s economy, the ongoing problems in the eurozone underline the need to better coordinate fiscal policies and to strengthen external competitiveness.
Financial sector stability requires stronger supervision of the union’s banking system as well as enhancing the regulatory framework, including the crisis management framework. In addition, the non-oil economy is constrained by structural obstacles, including low intraregional trade and inadequate infrastructure.
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Source: IMF
IMF Working paper-Estimating the Implicit Inflation Target of the South African Reserve Bank
July 5, 2012--Summary: This paper applies a state-space approach to estimate the implicit inflation target of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) since the adoption of the Inflation Targeting (IT) framework.
The paper's findings are two. First, although the official inflation target range is 3.6 percent, in practice, the SARB seems to have aimed for the upper segment of the band (41.2 .6 percent) for most of the period, despite the substantial variation of the output gap. Second, the estimation results show that the implicit inflation target varied over time, and in recent years it has shifted toward the upper limit of the inflation target range. This perhaps suggests that since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, the SARB's tolerance for higher inflation has somewhat increased to better support economic activity.
view the IMF Working paper-Estimating the Implicit Inflation Target of the South African Reserve Bank
Source: IMF
