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Bonds bolstered by strong rand
April 1, 2011-- South African bonds were up to eight basis points firmer in late trade on Friday, bolstered by a strong rand.
By 16:00, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.760% from its previous close of 7.820%, while the R207 was bid at 8.615% from its previous close of 8.675%. The R186 was trading at 8.890% from its previous close of 8.970.
The rand was bid at 6.7103 to the dollar from its previous close of 6.7522.
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Source: FIN24
High-speed multi-asset exchange launched
April 1, 2011--The CE Exchange (CEX) launched this morning is expected to bring an important boost to world liquidity and trade. The exchange is an international venture that will trade “anything and everything” using latest international nanosecond technology, according to CEO and founder, Avrilatam Fish.
The commodity section is initially the most active, as screens track soaring prices for gold, oil and other key commodities produced in Africa. The exchange also seeks to draw “a significant portion” of diamond trading back into Africa from shadowy international markets in the Netherlands, Israel and London but some traders are initially reluctant, fearing the new delivery mechanisms could amount to entrapment by southern African law agencies.
Intra-regional currency trade is also a first for the new market, made possible by improved banking systems in several regions. There are two boards, “official” which operates similarly to most international trading systems and “parallel market” where some settlement and delivery problems are already experienced.
However, CEX also promises to open up trading in a wide range of other much needed commodities. Market demand for governance and peace seemed urgent in some countries, and states such as Namibia and Botswana which have settled all disputes peacefully since independence and have democratic institutions and media freedom may be tempted to spread the good news. Outside traders such as Victor Yanukovych (his 2004 election win was annulled after allegations of rigging and lost subsequent free and fair elections) threw into the trading ring his view that it was the right choice to concede even if he did not accept the initial annulment: “I didn’t want dead bodies from Kiev to flow down the Dnipro. I didn’t want to assume power through bloodshed.” Peace futures could attract high prices, arbitraged against the cost of war, although arms traders may stage a dawn raid in coming days.
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Source: African Capital Markets News
Bonds firmer on strong rand
March 31, 2011--South African bonds were firmer in late trade on Thursday on the back of a strong rand, having recovered after some earlier losses owing to worse than expected producer price inflation data for February.
By 15:40, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.820% from its previous close of 7.840%, while the R207 was bid at 8.690% from its previous close of 8.690%. The R186 was trading at 8.960% from its previous close of 9.000%.
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Source: FIN24
JSE slides on international data
March 31, 2011-- The JSE closed in red territory on Thursday, in line with global markets following worse than expected US initial jobless claims and disappointing euro-zone CPI data earlier in the day.
At its close, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index declined 0.22%, led by industrials, 0.67% worse off. Resources gained 0.16%, and platinum miners advanced 2.18%, but gold miners lost 0.22%. Financials picked up 0.11%, and banks were flat.
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Source: FIN24
Foreign funds and SA bonds and equities
March 30, 2011--Flows into South African bonds turned positive in the last few days, although money is still being moved out of equities. In the 10 days to 29 March net non-resident purchasing of bonds, including repo, structured trades and other transactions, has totalled R9.3 billion ($1.4 bn) inflow, while non-resident investors in equities have taken out R1.6 bn.
For much of 2011 (year to date) investors had followed the global trend of less appetite for emerging markets and there have been outflows from South African bonds and equities. Between 1 Jan and 29 March, net non-resident flows into bonds were outflows of R11.2bn, according to Citi, citing data from the JSE securities exchange. Foreign outflows from equities were another R1.5bn, totalling R12.7 bn. This compared with the record inflows of 2010, being a total inflow of R52.0 bn into all bonds and R37.4bn into equities, totalling R89.4bn.
Source: African Capital Markets
Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances, Skills and Investments
March 30, 2011-- With about 30 million Africans living outside their home countries, migration is a vital lifeline for the continent. Yet African governments need to do more to realize the full economic benefits of the phenomenon, says a new report by the African Development Bank and the World Bank.
The report, Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances, Skills, and Investments, presents data from new surveys. The report finds evidence that suggest migration and remittances reduce poverty in the origin communities. Remittances lead to increased investments in health, education, and housing in Africa. Diasporas also provide capital, trade, knowledge, and technology transfers.
“Migration pressures will only rise in the future as a result of demographic changes of rising population in Africa and falling labor forces in Europe and many developed countries,” said Hans Timmer, director of development prospects at the World Bank. “Therefore, adapting policy responses to demographic forces and crafting multilateral arrangements for managing future migration is essential.”
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Source: World Bank
Bonds remain weak in late trade
March 30, 2011--South African bonds were still weak in late trade on Wednesday as comments made by SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) governor Gill Marcus continued to weigh on the market.
a speech on Monday evening, Marcus pointed to the potential upside risks to inflation emanating from high oil and food prices.
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Source: FIN24
Marcus, gold bolster rand
March 30, 2011--The rand firmed to its strongest level in more than two months on Wednesday, partly on hawkish comments by central bank governor Gill Marcus.
The unit was at R6.8120/$ in late afternoon trade after firming to R6.81, its firmest since mid-January. It closed at R6.8505/$ in New York on Tuesday.
Also supporting the rand was the higher gold price
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Source: FIN24
JSE rallies as mood keeps improving
March 30, 2011--The JSE experienced a broad rally on Wednesday as positive sentiments filtered through, while investors set aside recent gloomy news about the euro zone, Japan, the Middle East and north Africa.
Kevin Algeo, portfolio manager at Imara SP Reid, said a combination of the absence of negative news and upbeat corporate earnings in SA and abroad boded well for the market.
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Source: FIN24
Global stocks fail to deter JSE
March 29, 2011--The JSE finished on a stronger note on Tuesday, with the local bourse defying the downward European trend.
Gold and banking counters led the market higher, Andrew Todd, an equity derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid, said. MTN [JSE:MTN] also made solid gains after going ex-dividend yesterday.
