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Rand in a tight range in quiet trade
October 14, 2011--The rand traded in a narrow range in noon action on Friday as investors looked to square their positions moving into the weekend, and ahead of yet another eurozone meet, this time in Paris.
At 11:51 local time, the rand was trading at 7.8554 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.8799. It was trading at 10.8376 to the euro from 10.8229 before, and at 12.3845 against sterling from 12.4011 previously.
The euro was at $1.3800 from $1.3734 before.
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Source: FIN24
SA considers own metals exchange
October 14, 2011--South Africa is looking at establishing its own metals exchange as part of a wider government plan to extract more value from the country’s huge mineral wealth, much of which is exported as ore rather than being refined and processed locally.
In a speech this week, Mines minister Susan Shabangu stressed the importance of domestic metals exchanges in “extracting maximum socio-economic benefits” from mineral deposits.
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Source: FIN24
JSE falls in line with global stocks
October 13, 2011--The JSE lost a bit of ground at its opening on Thursday, in line with global stocks, with US data and earnings season later in the day expected to drive further sentiment.
By 09:21 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index gave up 0.29%, with resources off 0.49%. Gold miners however, added 1.21%, along with platinum miners, 0.22% higher. Banks declined 0.22%, industrials drifted 0.20% lower and financials shed 0.20%.
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Source: FIN24
Weaker rand weighs on bonds
October 13, 2011--South African bonds remained weaker in late trade on Thursday as the local currency rubbed off on the market.
A trader said the session had proved to be a quiet one with no major drivers other than the rand.
By 15:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 6.690% from its previous close of 6.645%. The R207 was bid at 8.050% and offered at 8.055% from a previous close of 7.985% and the R186 was trading at 8.380 from its close of 8.335%.
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Source: FIN24
JSE ends firmer on global sentiment
October 12, 2011--The JSE extended gains on Wednesday, finishing above the 31 000-point mark as hopes of a resolution of the eurozone debt crisis continued to buoy investor sentiment.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 1.06% to 31 129.95 points, with platinum miners up 0.96%, banks gained 0.49% and industrials lifted 0.80%. Financials were up 1%, while resources were 1.43% firmer.
Gold went up 1.01%.
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Source: FIN24
Rand tracks firm euro on eurozone pledge
October 12, 2011--The rand remained on the front foot in midday trade on Wednesday, as the euro touched 1.38 against the buck after Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, pledged to unveil measures to resolve the eurozone debt crisis.
At 11:49 local time, the rand was trading at 7.8027 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.9195. It was trading at 10.7377 to the euro from 10.8187 before, and at 12.2650 against sterling from 12.3541 previously.
The euro was at $1.3789 from $1.3644 before
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Source: FIN24
BoA cuts 2011 SA growth forecast
October 12, 2011--Bank of America/Merrill Lynch SA has lowered its 2011 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 3.1% from 3.2%, and that for 2012 to 3.5% from 3.8%.
Risks remained to the downside, principally due to the uncertain global environment, said Matthew Sharratt, SA economist at the bank.
GDP growth in the third quarter was unlikely to be much better than in the second, Sharratt said. SA's economy grew 1.3% in the second quarter from 4.5% in the first.
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Source: FIN24
Time to Invest in Africa and Africa’s Capital Markets, World Bank Vice President Says
October 11, 2011--The World Bank’s Vice President for Africa Obiageli Ezekwesili called Thursday from the London Stock Exchange for investors worldwide to invest in Africa and its budding capital markets.
“Africa has taught the world a lesson in macroeconomic reform and stability,” Ezekwesili told the audience at an African Investment Summit hosted at the Stock Exchange.
She urged investors who are in search of the right market at a time of growing fears of a global recession to “rediscover Africa”.
“Africa’s fundamentals appear strong, and the continent’s outlook remains positive,” Ezekwesili said, pointing to the continent’s rapid rebound from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, and its higher GDP growth rates projected to be 4.8 percent, 5.2 percent and 5.5 percent respectively in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
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Source: World Bank
JSE follows Europe higher
October 10, 2011--The JSE lifted at noon on Monday following European markets.
A local trader said: "It's been a quiet day so far. US futures are quite strong and the Sarkozy's speech has lifted sentiment in Europe, which is positively affecting our market."
He said that as the week progressed there would be more activity as a result of further data being released. The next big thing was US earnings. If there was any sign that the data would be disappointing, markets would most probably take a dive with talk of a recession creeping back in.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds follow the rand firmer
October 10, 2011--South African bonds remained firmer in midday trade on Monday as the market tracked the local currency.
By 11:45, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 6.650% from its previous close of 6.730%. The R207 was bid at 7.990% and offered at 8.075% from a previous close of 8.080% and the R186 was trading at 8.300% from its close of 8.425%.
The rand was bid at 7.8439 against the dollar from its previous close of 7.9646.
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Source: FIN24
