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New law to regulate rating agencies
July 31, 2011--The government gave notice at the weekend that the Treasury would be tabling legislation to govern credit rating agencies in South Africa, according to the Business Report on Monday.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would pilot the legislation through Parliament but the cabinet has already given its nod to the Credit Rating Services Bill.
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Source: FIN24
JSE ends weaker on risk aversion
July 29, 2011--Shares on the JSE slid on Friday as worse than expected US GDP data heightened risk aversion, while continued uncertainty about the US debt situations also weighed on investor sentiment.
The US faces a technical default if a fiscal agreement is not reached and the debt ceiling raised by next week Tuesday.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.76% to 31,208.04 points, with resources losing 1.46%, platinum miners tumbling 2.17% and gold miners giving up 0.09%. Banks lost 0.36%, financials were down 0.34% and industrials were off 0.35%.
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Source: FIN24
Rand firmer, strikes weigh on stocks
July 29, 2011--The rand regained some lost ground on Friday as exporters sold dollars, betting the local currency will keep its upward trend intact.
Stocks fell for a fifth straight day as concerns over a strike-induced supply shortfalls at heavyweight miners such as Anglo American [JSE:AGL] weighed.
Government bonds tracked the rand higher, with the yield on the 2015 bond falling to six-month lows.
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Source: FIN24
JSE in red as US debt still weighs
July 28, 2011-- The JSE closed in the red yet again on Thursday, but it came off its worst levels throughout the course of the afternoon, cheered somewhat by better than expected labour and housing data out of the US. However, debt issues still weighed.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.47%, with resources losing 1.10%, platinum miners shed 1.58% and gold miners gave up 2.07%. Banks lost 0.45%, financials were down 0.53%, but industrials added 0.17%.
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Source: FIN24
Strikes weigh on rand, SA assets
July 28, 2011--The rand slipped on Thursday after posting strong gains this week, while bond prices fell on concerns over the US debt standoff and stocks fell for the fourth straight day.
Mining stocks fell as unions went on strike, helping drag down the resource-heavy Top-40 index of blue chips by 0.52%. The All Share [JSE:J203] index fell 0.47%.
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Source: FIN24
JSE extends losses on US data
July 27, 2011--The JSE ended decidedly weaker on Wednesday, as disappointing US economic data added to risk aversion.
Nick Kunze, head of dealing at BJM Private Client Services, said the worse than expected US manufacturing data also triggered a sell-off in commodities, particularly the spot price of Brent Crude. He noted that US debt worries still topped investors' concerns.
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Source: AME Info
Softer dollar bolsters rand
July 27, 2011--The rand remained at almost a three-month high against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Wednesday as investors' concerns about US debt negotiations persisted.
The last time the rand was seen at these levels against the dollar was around the beginning of May.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds receive fillip from strong rand
July 27, 2011-- South African bonds were up to six basis points firmer in late trade on Wednesday, having received a fillip from a strong rand.
By 15:40, the benchmark R157 bond was bid at 7.325% and offered at 7.320% from 7.385% at its previous close. The R207 was bid at 8.235% and offered at 8.215% from 8.285%, and the R186 was bid at 8.470% and offered at 8.455% from 8.525%.
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Source: FIN24
The Quest for Higher Growth in the WAEMU Region: The Role of Accelerations and Decelerations -IMF Working paper
July 26, 2011--Summary: With the exception of Burkina Faso and Mali, the growth experience for WAEMU countries has been disappointing, even when compared to other sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The main objective of the paper is to investigate why the quest for a growth takeoff has been more elusive in the WAEMU countries compared to other SSA countries.
To do this, the paper focuses on the determinants of growth accelerations and decelerations in SSA and the WAEMU. It finds that the variables most closely associated with growth accelerations and decelerations in SSA are changes in terms of trade, private investment, civil tension, real exchange rates, and inflation. Second, as found elsewhere in the literature, there is a certain asymmetry between accelerations and decelerations, in both frequency and determinants, and that the WAEMU region is quite different from the rest of SSA.
US debt ceiling vote drags on JSE
July 26, 2011-- The JSE ended 197 points weaker on Tuesday as the lack of a decision by US legislators on the debt ceiling continued to fuel concerns of uncertainty in world markets.
By 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index shed 0.61%, with gold miners giving up 2.88%, resources falling 0.82% and banks shedding 0.61%. Industrials were 0.47% lower and financials lost 0.41%. Platinum miners fell 0.16%.
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Source: FIN24
