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Rand steady as Zuma nears re-election
December 4, 2012--The rand is expected to remain range-bound as the ruling ANC moves closer to re-appointing President Jacob Zuma as its leader, reducing the uncertainty hanging over this month's internal party election.
The rand was at R8.8680 to the dollar at 06:39 GMT, largely in line with its New York close on Monday.
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Source: FIN24
JSE pares losses, boosted by banks
December 3, 2012--The JSE pared losses in late trade to finish just slightly lower on Monday, boosted by some buying interest in banking and financial shares.
At 17:00‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.14% to 38 049.74 points. Gold stocks led the downside‚ dropping 3.12%‚ while banks garnered 1.06%.
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Source: FIN24
Rand remains strong on firm euro
December 3, 2012--The rand remained strong in afternoon trade on Monday on a firm euro.
“We kept steady against the euro‚ which in turn firmed against the dollar‚ so that has seen us trade near R8.85 per dollar for most of the day‚” a local trader said.
At 16:11‚ the rand was bid at R8.8534/$ from Friday’s close of R8.8909. The local currency was bid at R11.5507/€ from its previous close of R11.5527 and at R14.2276 against sterling from R14.2255 before.
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Source: FIN24
JSE closes at fresh all-time high
November 30, 2012--The JSE all share closed at a fresh all-time high on Friday after weak trade figures pushed the rand lower with rand hedge stocks gaining as a result.
Gold miners and industrials also providing a boost, while platinum was the biggest loser on the day.
World markets were also trading in positive territory‚ but uncertainty persisted about the US fiscal cliff and next week’s Greek debt buyback.
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Source: FIN24
Rand slides after poor trade data
November 30, 2012--The rand lost ground against major currencies in late trade after the release of disappointing domestic trade data, wiping off all its gains of the week.
At 15:41‚ the rand was bid at R8.8720/$ from Thursday’s close of R8.7842. The local currency was bid at R11.5054 to the euro from its previous close of R11.3883 and at R14.1817 against sterling from R14.0771 before.
The euro was bid at $1.2971‚ unchanged from its previous close.
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Source: FIN24
Stock Exchange Explains Delay in Releasing Trading Summary
November 29, 2012--The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has explained that the delay in the release of the daily transactions details on Monday, November 26 and Tuesday, November 27, 2012, was necessitated by the changes required to achieve the re-basing of five indices.
In a statement yesterday, the Exchange said the changes were successfully completed on Tuesday, November 27, 2012.
The affected indices are: the NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE-30 Index, the Banking Index, the NSE Oil and Gas Index and the NSE Insurance Index.
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Source: This Day Live
Rise of pension giants set to transform investment in Africa
November 29, 2012--New giants are arising in African investments-the domestic pension funds. In Nigeria the National Pensions Commission (PenCom) estimated registered pensions to be worth US$14bn in June 2011, with asset values up by 8% in three months; Namibia's Government Institutions Pension Fund alone is worth some $6bn;
South Africa’s pension funds grew at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% in US dollar terms over 10 years to December 2010, including over 28% in 2010 and Tanzania’s pension industry was audited at $2.1bn for 2010, and growing by 25% a year.
The number of pensioners is set to soar, according to United Nations figures, as the number of people over 60 years in Africa will rise from 55m in 2010 to 213m by 2050, compared to 236m Europeans over 60 years old by 2050. Current pension funds cover only 5%-10% of Africans ranging from 3% in Niger but it used to be 80% in North African countries such as Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. Pensions are not available at all in some countries.
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Source: African Capital Markets
JSE up a fraction, gold miners weigh
November 27, 2012-- The JSE was a fraction higher on Tuesday in line with world markets with gold miners the worst performers on the bourse after the sector had a good run on Monday.
At 17:00‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.10% to 37 805.80 points‚ with the gold index giving back 1.41%.
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Source: FIN24
Rand shrugs off weak GDP figure
November 27, 2012--The rand was a little stronger at noon on Monday after shrugging off the weak local GDP figure as a soft number was expected.
“The rand strengthened ever so slightly but is trading in narrow ranges. The weak GDP figures did not affect the market as a weak figure was expected. It looks as though the December holiday has hit the currency market already‚ with lacklustre trade prevailing in a narrow range‚” a currency trader said.
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Source: FIN24
Strikes dent SA growth, slows to 1.2%
November 27, 2012--South Africa's economic growth slowed to 1.2% in the third quarter of 2012 on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis, compared with a revised 3.4% rise in the second quarter, data showed on Tuesday.
On an unadjusted year-on-year basis, economic growth was at 2.3% in the third quarter from a revised 3.1% in the second quarter.
A Reuters poll of 15 economists expected growth to have slowed to 1.5% in the third quarter because of strikes in the mining sector.
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Source: FIN24