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Rand tumbles on jittery euro
February 10, 2012--The rand tumbled against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Friday as the local currency tracked a jittery euro and as the SA Reserve Bank disclosed that it would make an announcement of national importance on Saturday afternoon.
"We can thank our friends in Greece for most of the rand's troubles - it took only one minor opposition party to dislike the debt deal and then we have this announcement in Pretoria tomorrow - things felt uncomfortable as soon as that news came out," a local rand trader said.
At 18:00 local time, the rand was bid at R7.7358 to the dollar from its previous close of R7.5803. It was bid at R10.2025 to the euro from R10.0748 before, and at R12.1720 against sterling from R11.9938 previously.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds weaker on rand, offshore sales
February 9, 2012--South African bonds were mostly weaker in midday trade Thursday.
"We are quite a bit weaker, obviously with the rand a touch higher, but it sounds as though there's been some offshore selling - so I think there's been some profit taking from that side. The locals have been pretty quiet," a trader said.
At 11:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 6.595%, from its previous close of 6.570%. The R207 was bid at 7.785% and offered at 7.810% from a previous close of 7.745% and the R186 was trading at 8.260% from its close of 8.215%.
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Source: FIN24
JSE edges up, but Kumba shines
February 9, 2012--South African stocks edged higher for the second straight session on Thursday, adding just 0.13% as caution about the euro zone kept investors from pushing prices higher after the recent record run.
But Kumba Iron Ore defied the sluggish overall trend, as a better-than-expected dividend and continued optimism about the outlook for resources sent the company to a record high.
“Investors need a catalyst for either a move higher or lower and Greece is definitely a hot topic again,” said Devin Shutte a trader at brokerage Newstrading.
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Source: FIN24
JSE ends firmer on world stocks
February 8, 2012--The JSE ended decidedly firmer on Wednesday, snapping a two-day losing streak, on fresh hopes that Greece was on the verge of striking a deal with its creditors in return for a bailout.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.74% to 34 226.73 points, with the resource counters rallying 1.10%, while gold index added 1.37% and platinum shares rose 0.54%.
Industrials lifted 0.52%, financials climbed 0.59%, and banks gained 0.46%.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds weaken, rand steady, eyeing Greece
February 8, 2012--South Africa's government bonds fell further on Wednesday while the rand steadied despite reports the government is considering a mining wealth fund that could be used to cap the currency's gains, and as markets awaited news of a new Greek bailout.
Bond yields rose for a third day, with the 2015 bond yield rising five basis points to 6.58 percent and that on the 2026 issue up 6.5 basis points to 8.32 percent, as profit-taking following strong gains last week was extended.
"The market went too far at the end of January and beginning of February so this is just a bit of correction," said Ian Scott, a bond dealer at Stanlib.
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Source: FIN24
Rand softer against dollar, bonds mixed
February 7, 2012--South Africa's rand softened against the dollar on Tuesday but was off session lows after data showed the labour market improving slightly after massive job losses brought on by the financial crisis.
News that Greece was drafting an agreement on a bailout deal that would be put before political leaders for approval later in the day also helped limit the rand's losses
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Source: FIN24
SA reserves lifted by international bond
February 7, 2012--South Africa’s gold and foreign exchange reserves edged higher in January, Reserve Bank data showed on Tuesday, partly boosted by flows from the government’s international bond sale, a firmer gold price and a weaker dollar globally during the month.
Net gold and foreign exchange reserves, or the international liquidity positive, increased to $49.072bn in January from $47.867bn in December, while gross reserves rose to $51.451bn from $48.86bn, the Bank said in a statement posted on its website.
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Source: FIN24
Removing Barriers to Trade in Africa
February 7, 2012-With African leaders now calling for a continental free trade area by 2017 to boost trade within the continent, a new World Bank report shows how African countries are losing out on billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year because of high trade barriers with neighboring countries, and that it is easier for Africa to trade with the rest of the world than with itself.
According to the new report―De-Fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Integration
in Goods and Services―regional fragmentation could become even more costly for the continent with new World Bank forecasts suggesting that economic slowdown in the Eurozone could shave Africa’s growth by up to 1.3 percentage points this year. As the authors write, “while uncertainty surrounds the global economy and stagnation is likely to continue in traditional markets in Europe and North America, enormous opportunities for cross-border trade within Africa in food products, basic manufactures and services remain unexploited.”
view report-De-Fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Integration in Goods and Services
Source: World Bank
JSE ends weaker, led by miners
February 7, 2012--The JSE ended weaker on Tuesday for the second straight session, with the resources index leading the downside due to some profit taking.
Banking and financial indexes finished up amid some bargain hunting. "Nedbank came out with a fairly strong trading update on Monday, which gave rise to expectations that other banks would come with more or less similar updates," said Ian Cruickshanks, market watcher at Nedbank Capital.
At 17:00, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index ended 0.59% lower to 33 974.45 points, led by gold miners down 1.99%, resources were off 1.28% and platinums shed 0.21%.
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Source: FIN24
JSE weaker at noon, tracks Europe
February 6, 2012-- The JSE was relatively weaker at noon on Monday, tracking the European markets ahead of the key announcement regarding the Greek bailout talks.
The gold index remained the only bright spot on the local bourse, boosted mainly by Harmony Gold's results.
The world's fifth-largest gold miner posted record earnings in its second quarter of the financial year.
At noon, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.39% to 34 254.25 points. Gold stocks were up 1.71%, but platinum shares were flat (-0.06%) as were resources.
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Source: FIN24
