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BRVM flees war and restarts trading from Mali
March 17, 2011--West Africa’s regional stock market the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres (www.brvm.org) has started trading from a new base in Bamako, Mali, after leaving Cote d’Ivoire because of the political crisis. Trading restarted in the new office on 1 March, reports Bloomberg news agency, but volumes are much lower.
The bourse suspended operations on 11 February, after security forces loyal to incumbent Cote d’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo seized its main offices in Abidjan to prevent it relocating. Once senior personnel were safely out, the BRVM managed to move enough of the settlement and clearing operations to start operating in the new offices. At least 10 commercial banks in Cote d’Ivoire closed and Gbagbo’s forces “nationalized” them.
Bloomberg says that it is only operating for foreign investors since most of the stockbrokers were based in Cote d’Ivoire and their offices were part of the closed banks. However stockbroker Securities Africa says that only locals can trade. Clearing and settlement would also require banks, although the BRVM has an associated regional central depository Dépositaire Central/Banque de Règlement S.A.
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Source: African Capital Markets
Panicky JSE cheers modest gains
March 17, 2011-- The JSE finished modestly higher on Thursday on a volatile day that was dominated by the futures closeout and persistent negative global developments.
"We had a volative session today and trading remained tentative," said Andrew Todd, an equity derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid.
At the close, the JSE all-share index rose 0.35%, with resources stocks gaining 0.83% and platinum miners adding 0.14%. But gold counters lost 1.90% and industrials fell 0.28%. Banks advanced 1.34% and financials were up 0.66%.
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Source: FIN24
Risk aversion weighs bonds down
March 17, 2011--- Risk aversion continued to plague the bond market by the late afternoon on Thursday, but losses were limited due to a stronger rand.
By 16:32, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.895% from its previous close of 7.835%, while the R207 was bid at 8.815% from its previous close of 8.715%. The R186 was trading at 8.940% from a close of 8.925%.
The rand was bid at 7.0642 to the dollar from its previous close of 7.1711, but was off the intraday best level of 7.0157.
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Source: FIN24
Inflation Uncertainty and Relative Price Variability in WAEMU Countries
March 16, 2011-Using a consistent dataset and methodology for all eight member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) from 1994 to 2009, this paper provides evidence of the two major channels for real effects of inflation: inflation uncertainty and relative price variability.
In line with theory and most evidence for advanced and emerging market economies, higher inflation increases inflation uncertainty and relative price variability in all WAEMU countries. However, the pattern, magnitude and timing of these two channels vary considerably by country. The findings raise several policy issues for future research.
view IMF Working paper-Inflation Uncertainty and Relative Price Variability in WAEMU Countries
Source: IMF
Bonds weak in 'deathly' quiet trade
March 16, 2011-- South African bonds were weaker in in late trade on Wednesday on the back of a softer locally currency. A local trader said trade had been "deathly quiet".
By 15:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.835% from its previous close of 7.785%, while the R207 was bid at 8.735% from its previous close of 8.680%. The R186 was bid at 8.930% from a close of 8.900%.
The rand was bid at 6.9728 to the dollar from its previous close of 6.9638.
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Source: FIN24
Rebounding JSE awaits futures closeout
March 16, 2011--The JSE closed on a high note on Wednesday, sealing the day's rebound, which was aided by bargain-hunting and setting the stage for the futures closeout on Thursday. The Japanese nuclear crisis failed to deter local investors' enthusiasm.
Commodity prices were stabilising and this added to the positive mood, said Andrew Todd, an equity derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds still firm in quiet trade
March 15, 2011--South African bonds remained firm in quiet late trade on Tuesday, after a lukewarm auction earlier in the day.
By 15:50, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.790% from its previous close of 7.825%, while the R207 was bid at 8.705% from its previous close of 8.740%. The R186 was trading at 8.910% from a close of 8.960%.
The rand was bid at 6.9856 to the dollar from its previous close of 6.8277.
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Source: FIN24
Japan hits SA markets, US pares losses
March 15, 2011--The rand registered its biggest daily fall in two years against the dollar on Tuesday, with more losses seen, as fears of a radiation disaster in Japan prompted a flight from risk.
But Wall Street managed to recover some of its steep losses on Tuesday, following a disastrous day on most world markets.
Johannesburg stocks tumbled more than 2%, booking their biggest two-day fall since August, as fears about the crisis in the world's third-largest economy sent investors scrambling for safe-haven US and German bonds.
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Source: FIN24
Giant growth foreseen for African stock exchanges over 10 years
LIVE FROM SECURITIES AFRICA CONFERENCE (BNY Mellon, London)
March 14, 2011--African exchanges could grow dramatically in both market capitalization and turnover, following the explosive trends already charted by the Indian and Chinese markets.
This was the view of Sunil Benimadhu, President of the African Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA – www.africansea.org), speaking at an African investment conference organized by stockbroker Securities Africa (www.securitiesafrica.com) in London today (14 March).
According to his projections, by 2020 leading African exchanges including Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Botswana and Mauritius could see giant growth. He says that based on an assumption of economic growth (GDP) of 5% a year and if African markets continue to follow trends seen elsewhere in terms of their share their economies (GDP) then both turnover (the value of shares traded) and market capitalization (the value of the shares listed on the exchange for trading) could increase many times during the coming decade.
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Source: African Capital Markets
Bonds remain firm on strong rand
March 14, 2011--South African bonds retained their firmer bias in late trade on Monday on the back of a strong rand.
By 15:45, the benchmark R157 bond was trading at 7.840% from its previous close of 7.870% while the R207 was bid at 8.770% from its previous close of 8.780%. The R186 was trading at 8.980 from a close of 8.985%.
The rand was bid at 6.8847 to the dollar from its previous close of 6.9005.
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Source: FIN24
