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Rand claws back some lost ground
November 19, 2012--The rand was on a firmer footing in late trade on Monday, recovering from last week's weaker levels, which saw the local currency flirting with the R9/$ dollar mark.
The slide was attributed‚ among other things‚ to a bout of risk aversion.
At 3.44pm‚ the rand was bid at R8.8202/$ from Friday’s close of R8.8533 and Thursday’s close of R8.9020. The local currency was bid at R11.2690/€ from its previous close of R11.2864 and at R14.0249 against sterling from R14.0642 before.
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Source: FIN24
Nigeria GDP grows, oil output climbs
November 19, 2012--Nigeria, Africa's second-biggest economy, grew 6.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, helped by solid growth in the non-oil economy, data showed on Monday.
GDP growth accelerated slightly from 6.3% in the second quarter of this year, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. Oil output in Africa's biggest producer climbed nearly 6% from the corresponding period a year ago.
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Source: FIN24
South Africa mine strikes end, social tensions remain
November 18, 2012--The last of a wave of illegal strikes that have swept South Africa's mining sector ended on Thursday after workers accepted an offer from Anglo American Platinum Ltd, the world's top producer of the precious metal.
South Africa’s platinum and gold sectors have been rocked for months by often violent wildcat action, spawned by income disparities and a union turf war for members, and more conflict could be sparked by looming job cuts and wage talks next year. The labour unrest has rattled investors in the continent’s largest economy and has claimed the lives of over 50 people, including 34 shot dead by police in one incident in mid-August near a mine operated by platinum producer Lonmin Plc.
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Source: Today's Zaman
Nigeria to Join Top 10 Economies in 2050, Says Envoy
November 16, 2012--With an estimate of 500 million people, making her the fifth most populous country by 2050, Nigeria will become one of the 10 largest economies by that year, according the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Mahesh Sachdev.
Sachdev affirmed that Nigeria could actually meet the target of being among the 20 leading economies by 2020.
He said by 2050, his country would have become the most populous, overtaking China, and the second or third largest economy in the world.
Sachdev, who spoke at the 10th award ceremony for winners of the National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)-organised annual secondary school competition for members of the NAFDAC Consumer Safety Club in Abuja yesterday, said India buys N7 billion worth of goods from Nigeria daily, amounting to N689 billion a quarter.
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Source: This Day Live
JSE down on continued unrest
November 16,2012-- The JSE was firmly in the red at noon on Friday as continued unrest in the South African farming and mining sectors weighed on local markets.
“We are still in the red today‚ as traders are still concerned about the ongoing strikes and economic data from the EU‚ which suggests the EU is in its second recession in three years. The rand weakness also played a factor in the market’s weakness‚” said Kuziva Muganiwa‚ a global markets analyst from Vunani Capital.
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Source: FIN
Rand, bonds post momentary recovery
November 16, 2012--Yields on benchmark government bonds dropped 2.5 basis points, reflecting a recovery in the local market as offshore buying supported prices on Friday.
The yield on the 2015 bond fell to 5.47% while the 2026 issue dropped to 7.74%.
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Source: FIN24
Miners, US cliff, EU weigh on JSE
November 15, 2012--The JSE closed the Thursday session in negative territory, on sharp weakness on Wall Street on Wednesday and contraction in the eurozone economy in the third quarter.
South African gold miner Gold Fields being downgraded to junk by Standard & Poor’s on Thursday also added to negative sentiment on the local bourse. The rating agency said Gold Fields faced increased country risk in light of increasing social and political tensions and its credit ratings were therefore reduced to BB+/B from BBB-/A-3. Local rand weakness and violence in the agriculture sector in the Western Cape also added to the JSE’s downward trajectory.
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Source: FIN24
Rand weakens on US fiscal cliff fears
November 15, 2012--The rand weakened on Thursday afternoon as fears over the US fiscal cliff triggered safe-haven purchasing.
“The worry about the fiscal cliff in the US has caused investors to take their money from other currencies and purchase safe-haven currencies like the dollar. The ongoing problems in the eurozone are also not good for investor sentiment‚” Mark Kalkwarf‚ a senior portfolio manager from the Iquad Group said.
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Source: FIN24
Rand weakens on negative sentiment
November 14, 2012--The rand weakened before noon on Wednesday as international traders fear the spread of ongoing unrest in SA into other sectors of the economy.
“The local currency is experiencing negative sentiment due to continued unrest‚ which is threatening to spread into other sectors of the country. This is creating uncertainty amongst foreign investors as it shows the country is not in a good place‚ economically‚ at the moment‚” Vunani Capital global markets analyst Kuziva Muganiwa said.
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Source: FIN24
JSE closes down on weaker US data
November 14, 22012--The JSE closed the Wednesday session lower with resurgent European risk and US fiscal concerns weighing on the bourse and world markets.
Banks and financials were the only indices closing in the black after a positive re-rating of FirstRand and Rand Merchant Bank that caused these counters to add value and push the banking index higher.
“Platinums were up in the morning‚ but turned around at midday after retail sales in the US came in lower than expected‚ which led to a risk-off rally and the rand weakened to R8.87 from R8.78 on Tuesday to the greenback due to this risk-off environment‚” Martin Strauss‚ equity dealer at PSG Konsult in Pretoria said.
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Source: FIN24
