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Bonds track rand off best
April 10, 2012--South African bonds remained firm in midday play on Tuesday, but were off the session's best levels as the weaker rand weighed on the market.
At its weekly auction, the National Treasury received bids totalling R1.86bn for R700m worth of R203 bonds at a clearing yield of 7.345%, and bids totalling R1.26bn for R700m worth of R208 bonds at a clearing yield of 7.980% and bids totalling R1.20bn for R700m worth of R214 bonds at a clearing yield of 9.040%.
At 11:50, the benchmark R157 bond was at trading 6.790% from its previous close of 6.810%. The R207 was bid at 7.915% and offered at 7.890% from a previous close of 7.910% and the R186 was trading at 8.500% from its close of 8.535%.
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Source: FIN24
Making the market, the story of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange
April 6, 2012--The making of the market- this article by Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange gives a fascinating, self-critical and revealing account of the creation of the exchange and the sometimes breakneck pace at which the market grew and took on new commodities such as coffee.
Particularly important is the idea that a commodity exchange will only have traction in Africa if it improves the lives of smaller rural farmers and traders. Eleni puts focus on “the market institutions needed for quality grades and standards, warehouse receipts, market information, coordinated trading, payment systems, and contract enforcement. All of these, I argued, should be established in a holistic and integrated fashion, rather than in the piecemeal approach observed all over Africa in different donor interventions. I pushed further, presenting for the first time the idea that a commodity exchange was precisely the holistic platform that would integrate all of these elements.”
These were the aims of the ECX, according to a 2005 concept paper: “a commodity exchange would build the needed institutions from the ground up for grading and certifying quality, issuing warehouse receipts, trading, relaying market information to all actors, enforcing contracts, and ensuring payment and delivery. But that was not all. Ethiopia’s commodity exchange would be designed to serve smallholder farmers and small traders, it would not exclude those with less education or less capital, and it would balance the interests of all actors and of the public and private sectors. A commodity exchange would not aim to eliminate traditional markets around the country, but rather to build up these informal markets by adding technology and systems to bring more transparent, more efficient, and more reliable trading to all concerned.”
view the A Market for Abdu-Creating a Commodity Exchange in Ethiopia
Source: African Capital Market News
Stocks lifted ahead of long weekend
April 5, 2012--South African stocks clawed back some lost ground on Thursday, as investors bought back shares of Kumba Iron Ore and other resource stocks that had been hammered in the previous session.
But traders said the recovery was also tempered with caution, ahead of a four-day Easter holiday that starts on Friday.
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Source: FIN24
Rand flails in turbulent waters
April 5, 2012--The rand remained weak but was off the session's worst levels in late trade on Thursday ahead of the Easter long weekend after better than expected US jobless claims data which signalled the world's biggest economy is improving.
At 18:00 local time, the rand was bid at R7.8288 to the dollar from Wednesday's close of 7.8199. It was bid at R10.2291 to the euro from R10.2719 before, and at R12.3803 against sterling from R12.4260 previously.
The euro was bid at $1.3064 from Wednesday's close of $1.3143.
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Source: Fin24
SA stocks dive as gold miners take a knock
Apri1 4, 2012--South African stocks lost ground for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday, falling more than 2% as major miners such as Harmony Gold Mining Company [JSE:HAR] tumbled on a faltering bullion price.
Gold prices hit their lowest since early January on Wednesday as comments from the European Central Bank lifted the dollar to three-week highs against the euro, accelerating a fall sparked by declining expectations of more US monetary easing.
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Source: FIN24
Rand ends weaker on Spanish woes
April 4, 2012--The rand was weaker in late trade on Wednesday as a poor Spanish debt auction added to the euro's woes following an overnight sell-off resulting from hawkish US Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes.
"The bad news in terms of the euro just continues so we could test the $1.3 level sooner rather than later. If we have US March job growth in excess of 250,000, then I believe that support level will crumble," a local rand trader said.
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Source: FIN24
JSE mildly positive, seeks direction
April 3, 2012--The JSE was only mildly positive at noon on Tuesday, after the previous session's late rally over better than expected US manufacturing data began to wear thin.
At 12:05 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.29% to 34 072.55 points, with resources flat (0.01%), while gold shares lost 0.98% but platinum miners gained 0.17%.
Banks were flat (0.04%), while financials inched up 0.08% and industrials lifted 0.54%.
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Source: FIN24
Rand down, bonds weaker
April 3, 2012--South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar on Tuesday, partly tracking weaker government bonds after a weekly auction was poorly received due to investors' concerns about over-supply of paper in the coming month.
The yield on the three-year benchmark bond gained five basis points to 6.725% while that for the longer dated paper due in 2026 climbed eight basis points to 8.43%
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Source: FIN24
JSE stock exchange unveils new Africa strategy
April 2, 2012--This morning (2 April) South Africa's securities exchange, the JSE Ltd, announced a revised strategy to attract more listings from African countries, as they say international interest in investing into the continent's growth story continues to soar.
The JSE is closing its Africa Board and moving the 2 listed companies onto the Main Board (listing requirements for the Africa Board are the same as for the Main Board) or to Alt-X if they are growth companies. The JSE is also stepping up trading in depository receipts (DRs) and offering a broader range of exchange-traded funds and debt instruments.
Siobhan Cleary, Director of Strategy and Public Policy at the JSE, said in a press release: “The JSE’s existing African offering includes 12 African companies. In future, there will be no differentiation (for listing purposes). For equities, this will mean that we will list the companies on the Main Board or AltX as applicable. We will also actively market and profile the African companies that are already listed.”
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Source: African Capital Markets
JSE closes higher, MTN tanks
April 2, 2012--South African stocks cruised higher on Monday as global investor sentiment was lifted by an upbeat reading of business activity in US manufacturing, but blue-chip heavyweight MTN Group [JSE:MTN] fell again on concerns about a massive lawsuit.
MTN slid 4.5% to R128.80, extending Friday’s losses after Turkish rival Turkcell filed a $4.2bn suit against the mobile phone operator, alleging it bribed officials and lobbied support for Tehran’s nuclear programme to win an Iranian licence.
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Source: FIN24
