Rand tests R8.3 support level
August 1, 2012--The rand opened slightly firmer against the dollar on Wednesday but looked ripe for a test of the R8.30 support barrier in the trading day.
The rand nudged up just 0.12% to R8.2540 to the dollar at 06:40 GMT, off a R8.2675 close in the New York session on Tuesday.
The currency had looked set to test R8.15 and then R8.11 resistance levels in the last two sessions.
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Source: FIN24
African growth faces challenges in 2013
August 1, 2012--Africa will continue its economic growth into the next year, but faces increasing threats from continued political instability, youth unemployment and the global recession dragging down oil and commodity prices, a leading economist said Tuesday.
A forecast from the African Development Bank expects 4.5% growth across Africa in 2012 and 4.8% growth in 2013, with sub-Saharan Africa to grow at an even faster pace, the bank's chief economist Mthuli Ncube said.
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Source: FIN24
FG: Nigeria to Become Investors Haven
August 1, 2012--In decades to come Nigeria will be a major investment haven for the global community considering its robust economic policies being engineered through the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Leading international investors, who attended the three day Nigerian high level business and investment summit in London, who gave the verdict were confident that the micro-economic policy of the administration is among the best in the world.
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Source: This Day Live
Profit taking drags JSE lower
July 31, 2012--The JSE ended lower on Tuesday, after reaching an all-time high on Monday, with no major external factors driving the market, except for some risk-off profit taking by investors ahead of big international policy announcements on Wednesday and Thursday.
"We have seen some end-of-month locking in of profits today after yesterday's high. I am not surprised that we have come down and there was a fair bit of selling in the banking space today. We had good runs on Friday and Monday with tremendous gains‚ so today we saw some selling‚" said Ryan Wibberley‚ equity dealer at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town.
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Source: FIN24
JSE hits record high on eurozone hopes
July 30, 2012--South Africa's All-share index hit a record high in early trade on Monday, rising 0.6% as miner Assore and other commodities companies were buoyed by hopes of action by Europe to support its fragile economy.
The All-share, the broadest measure of South African stock performance, briefly touched 34,877.55, surpassing its previous record of 34,808.92 set on June 20.
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Source: FIN24
Rand steadies after rally, bonds fall
June 30, 2012--The rand on Monday was little changed from last week's close against the dollar, but could be in for a volatile week if European policy leaders fail to meet market expectations of a decisive move to bring stability to the eurozone.
Government bonds eased slightly in early trade, with the yield on the three-year and 14-year benchmarks each notching up two basis points to 5.41% and 7.265% respectively.
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Source: FIN24
JSE closes near its all time high
July 27, 2012--The JSE ended the week on a very good note after starting at a severely depressed level at the beginning of the week, all on the back of market expectations that European leaders will address the eurocrisis.
Commodities were up‚ oil was higher‚ copper gained and the euro recovered.
The JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index closed up 382 points‚ or 1.11%‚ at 34 671 points on Friday.
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Source: FIN24
Rand holds firm on eurozone euphoria
July 27, 2012--The rand held firm against the dollar in early Friday trade, taking its cue from a resurgent euro after the European Central Bank promised to hold the bloc together, boosting sentiment which has been battered by nagging debt woes.
The rand earlier climbed to a week’s high of R8.2150 to the greenback and was at R8.2235 by 06:30 GMT, up 0.26% from Thursday’s R8.2450 close.
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Source: FIN24
JSE stronger on back of ECB statement
July 26, 2012--The JSE saw a rally in late trade on Thursday after the European Central Bank's president Mario Draghi said the central bank "would do whatever it takes to protect the euro".
“This announcement calmed concerns about Greece dropping out of the eurozone and we saw energetic buying into the euro and commodities‚” said Devin Shutte‚ market analyst at stockbrokerage Newstrading.
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Source: FIN24
Rand bolstered by stimulus hopes
July 26, 2012--The rand steadied against the dollar on Thursday after rallying 1.5% overnight due to strong demand for local bonds by foreign accounts, and could rally further on hopes of additional stimulus for struggling leading economies.
The yield for the three-year paper was down two basis points at 5.37% in early trade and that for the 14-year issue fell 4.5 basis points to 7.29%.
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Source: FIN24