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SA's foreign exchange reserves up
November 7, 2011--South Africa’s net gold and foreign exchange reserves edged up to $49.221bn at the end of October from $47.93bn in September, data from the Reserve Bank showed on Monday.
A Reuters poll last week showed the market was expecting net reserves to rise to $48.66bn in October.
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Source: FIN24
Standard Bank Group facilitates Namibian government's landmark US$500m Eurobond
November 4, 2011--Standard Bank Group (SBG) has partnered the Namibian government in the issue of its debut US$500-million, 10-year Eurobond, as sub-Saharan sovereigns increasingly tap into international capital markets.
Namibia's 144A/RegS benchmark sovereign bond issued on 27 October 2011 carries a coupon of 5.5% and is rated Baa3 by Moody's and BBB- by Fitch. This new issue for the Republic of Namibia is only the sixth benchmark sovereign bond to come to market from Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) in the past few years.
Standard Bank Group and Barclays Capital served as joint book-runners on this landmark transaction.
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Source: Standard Bank
SA stocks log worst week in months
November 4, 2011--South African stocks wrapped up a turbulent week, with losses on Friday and their biggest weekly fall since early August as doubts about Europe’s bailout plan hit shares worldwide.
But Anglo American [JSE:AGL] was in focus after the global miner unveiled a $5.1bn deal to take control of diamond giant De Beers.
The JSE Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] blue chip index fell 1.03% to 28 553.6, bringing this week’s losses to 3.4%, the biggest weekly fall since the week ending August 5. The broader All Share [JSE:J200] index lost 0.92% to 31 917.02.
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Source: FIN24
Steady rand awaits US payrolls data
October 4, 2011--The rand remained on the front foot in noon trade ahead of ever crucial US October payrolls data.
At 11:57 local time, the rand was trading at 7.8345 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.8471. It was trading at 10.8415 to the euro from 10.8506 before, and at 12.5401 against sterling from 12.5837 previously.
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Source: FIN24
SA business confidence dips
November 3, 2011--South Africa’s business confidence index dipped for the fourth month in a row to 97.5 in October from 98.4 in September, weighed down in part by a volatile exchange rate, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Thursday.
The depreciation of the weighted rand exchange rate and its volatility are cause for concern,” said Sacci, adding that higher producer inflation and lower share prices were also a worry
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Source: FIN24
JSE flat after volatile session
November 3, 2011--The JSE ended the day fairly flat after a volatile period approaching close.
A local trader said: "The 25 basis point cut from the ECB sparked some buying, but then we pulled back to previous levels, and Greece confirmed that the referendum was going to be scrapped and positive trade came back."
As the market came to a close however, the mild rise pulled back again.
The JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index ended static at 0.05% up, with platinum gaining 1.12%, and resources collecting 0.36%. Gold lost 0.14%.
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Source: FIN24
Rand soars as Greek chaos eases
November 3, 2011--The rand firmed against the dollar on Thursday as Greek government plans for a referendum on a sovereign bailout unravelled.
A surprise European Central Bank decision to cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points also improved sentiment towards risky assets.
The rand has been extremely volatile in light of the uncertainties around the Greek debt crisis, which have seen investors vacillate between taking on and dumping risky assets.
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Source: FIN24
JSE snaps losing run
November 2, 2011--South African stocks ended higher for the first time this week, with miners adding the most points to the blue-chip index on rallying commodity prices.
Hopes that the US central bank, which concludes a two-day meeting on Wednesday, could further boost that country’s economy, along with a meeting between German, French and Greek leaders added to the bullish tone.
“There’s a possibility of QE 3 (a further round of quantitative easing), that probably has had positive effect on the market,” said Byron Lotter, a portfolio manager at Vestact Asset Management.
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Source: FIN24
Rand climbs against dollar, lifts bonds
November 2, 2011-- The rand gained 2% on the dollar on Wednesday, recovering from a 1-1/2 week low as risky assets got a reprieve from heavy selling, which in turn gave longer government debt a lift.
The rand firmed to 7.9500 against the dollar, compared with Tuesday’s close of 8.1100, largely tracking moves in the euro, which traders said was getting a breather while investors brace for the next EU debt crisis developments.
Yields on government bonds dropped from one-week highs as the rand’s strength drove some real money accounts to pick bonds up while the risk rally was on.
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Source: FIN24
Risk aversion hammers rand, JSE
November 1, 2011--The rand weakened against the dollar on Tuesday as a Greek plan for a referendum on a bailout package raised worries that the eurozone debt crisis is far from over.
The rand had trimmed its losses though after German and French leaders said they were determined to see through a three-point plan agreed last week to contain the debt crisis, which had calmed markets.
South African stocks also ended sharply lower, extending the decline to two days.
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Source: FIN24
