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'Suicide' to peg rand to dollar
September 24, 2010--Pegging the rand to the dollar would be "national suicide", Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel said at the ANC's national general council (NGC) in Durban on Friday.
"To ask that you peg against a volatile currency like the dollar is to commit national suicide," Manuel said at a briefing on the NGC's commission on the economy.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds take strain on foreign sales
September 17, 2010-- The wind was taken out of the sails of South African bonds on Friday as they continued to lose ground on the back of foreign selling.
Bonds lost up to 20 basis points in late trade, with a trader saying bonds were weaker after 'massive offshore selling' yesterday. It follows foreigners selling up to two billion rand worth of South African bonds on Thursday.
By 16:00 the benchmark R157 bond was at 7.370% from 7.240% at its close on Thursday, while the R207 was bid at 8.030% and offered at 8.015% from 7.865% at its previous close. The R186 was bid at 8.095% and offered at 8.050% after closing at 7.885%.
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Source: FIN24
JSE ends down on US data, bank fears
September 17, 2010--The JSE reversed all the day's gains and closed lower on Friday, after disappointing US consumer confidence data and concerns over the stability of the banking system in the Eurozone dampened sentiment on the local bourse.
Gold stocks fell the hardest despite the strong gold price, which hit yet another record high on Friday.
By 17:00 local time the JSE all share index was down 0.18%, with gold miners falling 2.12%. But platinum miners added 0.10% and resources gained 1.02%. Banks made 0.12% gains, while industrials shed 0.28% and financials slid 0.52%.
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Source: FIN24
New dividends tax ruffles feathers
September 17, 2010-- The implementation of South Africa's new dividends tax, which is set to replace the out-dated secondary tax on companies in 2011, has not come without controversy.
It has emerged that corporate taxpayers could be caught off guard when the amended tax legislation comes into force in January 2011 because the Taxation Laws Amendment Bills of 2010, recently presented to cabinet by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, have unexpectedly removed the secondary tax on companies (STC) liquidation exemption.
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Source: FIN24
Cosatu charters new growth path for economy
September 14, 2010--Government should tax the "super rich" and play a more "aggressive role" in the economy, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) suggested in its new growth path for South Africa.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Tuesday South Africa was in crisis, and a new growth path was needed to rescue
the country's "dysfunctional" economy.
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Source: FIN24
EU-Africa meeting to secure energy for Africa by 2020
September 14, 2010--- African ministers and EU representatives kicked off a new energy partnership Tuesday, with the aim to secure renewable energy supplies for Africa by 2020.
"Today is the starting point for the Africa-EU cooperation programme on renewable energies," Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, who hosted the Vienna meeting, said at the opening.
"Our goal is clear -- to provide by 2020 access to modern energy supplies for some 100 million people in Africa, to improve cross-border interconnectivity in the electricity supply and to improve energy efficiency," he said.
view Africa-Europe Energy Partnership (AEEP)
Source: EUbusiness
Bonds quiet after rate cut
September 10, 2010--After firming sharply following the 50 basis point cut in the repo rate to 6.0% on Thursday, South African bonds were quiet on Friday morning. With no local data due today, a fairly quiet end to the week is expected.
By 08:30 the benchmark R157 bond was at 7.100% from 7.110% at its close on Thursday, while the R207 was bid at 7.805% from 7.800% at its previous close. The R186 was untraded after closing at 7.805%.
The rand was bid at R7.2020 to the dollar from R7.2070 at its previous close.
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Source: FIN24
JSE up slightly in quiet trade
September 10, 2010--The JSE was a fraction firmer in early trade on Friday despite the strong rand, which tends to weigh on heavyweight resources counters and other rand-hedge stocks.
By 09:23 local time the JSE all share index had added 0.05%, with platinum miners up 0.14%. But both gold miners and resources were flat - down just 0.03%. Banks gained 0.30%, financials rose 0.17% and industrials were 0.06% higher.
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Source: FIN24
Rand eyes R7.15 vs dollar
September 10, 2010--The rand maintained its firm bias in midday trade on Friday, eying a key technical level of R7.15 against the dollar. Volumes were however low, said a local dealer.
At 11:33 local time the rand was bid at R7.1875 to the dollar from R7.2070 at the previous close. It was bid at R9.1400 to the euro from R9.1503 before and at R11.0783 against sterling from R11.1162 at its previous close.
The euro was bid at $1.2729 from $1.2695 overnight.
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Source: FIN24
No major intervention to ease rand
September 7, 2010--South Africa's international reserves edged higher in August, mainly driven by a rise in the forward position and suggesting the central bank had not sold currencies aggressively to ease the rand's gains.
Data posted on the Reserve Bank's website on Tuesday showed net gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at $39.178bn at the end of August from $38.665bn in July. Gross reserves dipped to $43.133bn in August from $43.159bn.
Foreign currency reserves fell $259m to $35.464bn while gold reserves increased by $255m to $4.97bn.
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Source: FIN24
