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Rand falls sharply after ECB disappoints
December 8, 2011-- South Africa rand fell sharply across the board on Thursday as the European Central Bank signalled it would not take aggressive action to deal with the region’s debt crisis, hurting investors’ appetite for riskier assets.
The rand was already weak after data showing the current account widened more than expected in the third quarter and manufacturing and mining output were weak in October.
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Source: FIN24
JSE stable, gold firms rally
December 7, 2011--Johannesburg’s stock market ended flat on Wednesday with investors selling some stocks to lock in a string of session gains while gold miners found support from safe-haven buying after a recent sell-off.
The gold miners index added nearly 2% with producer Harmony rising for the first session in four, with a 2.9% gain to R114.
Rival Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest producer of the precious metal, rose 2.8% to R136.74.
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Source: FIN24
Rand weakens, seen under pressure
December 7, 2011--South Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar on Wednesday, losing momentum after yet another failure to sustain gains below the 8.00/dollar mark.
Thin liquidity conditions exacerbated its volatility and it swung in wide ranges, with volumes traded in the session at around R1.5bn compared with an average R2.4bn a day in the past three months.
Lower-than expected retail sales data also did not help. The currency fell as much as 1.1% on the day to a session low of 8.1140.
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Source: FIN24
SA's forex reserves lower
December 7, 2011-- South Africa’s international liquidity position fell more than expected in November as gross reserves decreased on a stronger dollar against major currencies, causing a decline in foreign currency reserves.
The SA Reserve Bank (Sarb) said on Wednesday net gold and foreign exchange reserves fell to $48.633bn in November from $49.221bn in October, also as the forward position of the bank declines.
A Reuters poll showed the market was expecting net reserves to fall to $49.05bn in October.
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Source: FIN24
Stocks unfazed after S&P warning
December 6, 2011--US and European stocks were little changed Tuesday after S&P’s downgrade warning to 15 euro nations, though analysts expressed a cautious hope the move would spur leaders into more decisive action.
Even so, such optimism was tenuous and measures of financial risk remained at elevated levels with banks increasingly reluctant to lend to each other. Standard & Poor’s warned late Monday it could cut credit ratings across the euro zone, underscoring just what is at stake ahead of a key summit this week. It could also help Germany and France force through proposed treaty changes.
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Source: FIN24
Rand, bonds hit by new wave of risk-off
December 6, 2011--The rand weakened against the dollar on Tuesday, pulling back from a week-long firming trend as headlines out of Europe hit sentiment towards risky assets.
The rand is a heavily traded emerging market currency and susceptible to risk-off, risk-on trade, making it volatile.
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Source: FIN24
JSE gains on eurozone optimism
December 5, 2011--Optimism that Europe could come up with a concrete plan to stem its sovereign debt crisis buoyed South African stocks on Monday, with firms sensitive to global growth, such as Anglo American Platinum , helping the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index close 0.75% higher.
Market sentiment was given an early boost when Italy revealed a 30-billion-euro package of austerity steps, which helped shares of financial institutions gain value.
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Source: FIN24
Rand firms against dollar
December 5, 2011--The rand gained for the sixth straight day to a three-week high against the dollar on Monday as optimism about a solution to the European debt crisis boosted risky assets. The winding down of the year was also supportive of rand gains.
Government bonds ignored the positive sentiment as some traders caught long on Friday covered those positions early on Monday, pushing yields to their day’s peak, with the market trading sideways for the rest of the session after that.
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Source: FIN24
SA casino market growing fast
December 5, 2011--SA had the fastest-growing casino market in 2010 with a 3.5% increase, PwC said in its Global Gaming Outlook to 2012 released on Monday.
"Going forward, casino upgrades and a new casino licence will enhance the South African casino market, but compared with the prior decade - when a number of new casinos opened - there will be relatively little growth from new casinos during the forecast period."
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Source: FIN24
Forget China, invest in Africa says Russia's Renaissance
December 2, 2011--Investors should forget China and park their money in sub-Saharan Africa if they wish to benefit from the growth in emerging markets, the chief investment officer at Russia's Renaissance Asset Managers said on Friday.
Africa reminds me of China back in 1999. If you missed China then, don't do that now," Plamen Monovski told Reuters in an interview. "It's the last place in the world that is due for that rapid change and advancement."
Africa, once shunned by most investors, is beginning to attract interest from some of the world's largest banks and corporates.
Singapore commodities firm Olam International Ltd this week announced plans to invest about $100 million in Nigeria, while Standard Chartered's private bank said in October it planned to set up an onshore presence in Kenya.
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Source: Reuters
