SA Company News:
The JSE looks set to open amid a positive session for Asian markets on Monday morning, with markets recovering from a tough last week when the JSE had its worst day in ten months on Thursday.
Standard Bank is aiming for a return on equity of up to 20% by 2025 as it looks to transform into a platform for services beyond banking, after having reported headline earnings rose by more than half in its six months to end-June.
Tencent, which gives direction to the JSE via the Naspers stable, gained 2.91%.
SA Economy:
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), reputedly the biggest single investor in SA’s commercial property industry is continuing to make major investments in the sector despite the significant negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on most segments of the property market.
Unemployment is forecast to have slightly increased for a second consecutive quarter this year as the Covid-19 extended lockdown restrictions continued to bite on economic activity. In the three months to June, the country was adjusted from alert level 1 lockdown to alert level 4 by the end of the quarter, leaving more sectors to trade under stringent conditions.
Global Economy:
The Hang Seng led the gains, jumping nearly 2% after plunging to an over 9-month low Friday, with all major sectors higher. Stocks in Japan surged 1.8% after tumbling to an 8-month low on Friday, amid a rebound in auto-related stocks following losses stoked by an announcement by Toyota Motor that it would slash its global output by 40% in September.
European stocks rose on Monday, trying to recover from last week’s sharp sell-off, as investors awaited PMI figures from the Eurozone, the UK, and the US due today and the annual conference in Jackson Hole later this week at which Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is expected to provide more details about the timeline of tapering of the central bank’s bond-buying programme and the outlook for the economy.
Commodities:
Oil prices jumped more than 1.5% on Monday, as traders snapped up bargains after oil markets suffered a 7.7% plunge last week and saw the 7th straight session of losses.
Gold was up 0.33% to $1,787.30/oz. Platinum gained 1.68% to $1,014.
Currencies:
The rand was 0.45% firmer at R15.25/$, on track to break a five-session losing streak.
Bitcoin tops $50 000, hitting a more than 3-month high.
| Economic Calendar for the week: | ||
| 23-Aug-21 | ||
| SOUTH AFRICA | ||
| Country | Economic Event | Date |
| ZAR | Unemployment Rate (Q2) | 24-Aug-21 |
| ZAR | Unemployment (Q2) | |
| ZAR | Gold Production (YoY) (Jun) | 26-Aug-21 |
| ZAR | Mining Production (Jun) | |
| ZAR | PPI (YoY) (Jul) | |
| ZAR | PPI (MoM) (Jul) | |
| INTERNATIONAL | ||
| Country | Economic Event | Date |
| GBP | Composite PMI (Aug) | 23-Aug-21 |
| GBP | Manufacturing PMI (Aug) | |
| GBP | Services PMI (Aug) | |
| USD | Existing Home Sales (Jul) | |
| EUR | Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) | |
| USD | New Home Sales (Jul) | 24-Aug-21 |
| USD | Core Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (Jul) | 25-Aug-21 |
| USD | Crude Oil Inventories | |
| EUR | ECB Publishes Account of Monetary Policy Meeting | 26-Aug-21 |
| USD | GDP (QoQ) (Q2) | |
| USD | Initial Jobless Claims | |
| USD | Fed Chair Powell Speaks | 27-Aug-21 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | ||
| Ticker | Company | Date |
| AIP | Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd | 25-Aug-21 |
| BID | Bid Corp Ltd | 25-Aug-21 |
| DCP | Dis-Chem Pharmacies Limited | 25-Aug-21 |
| DGH | Distell Group Holdings Limited | 26-Aug-21 |
| DRD | DRD Gold Limited | 25-Aug-21 |
| GND | Grindrod | 27-Aug-21 |
| ITE | Italtile Limited | 26-Aug-21 |
| MSM | Massmart Holdings Limited | 27-Aug-21 |
| MUR | Murry & Robberts Holdings | 26-Aug-21 |
| SSW | Sibanye Stillwater Limited | 26-Aug-21 |
| SNH | Steinhoff International Holdings | 27-Aug-21 |
| WHL | Woolworths Holdings Limited SA | 26-Aug-21 |
| INTERNATIONAL | ||
| Ticker | Company | Date |
| BBY | Best Buy Co Incorporated | 25-Aug-21 |
| JD | JD.Com Incorporated | 23-Aug-21 |
| GPS | The Gap Incorporated | 26-Aug-21 |
Brent Oil Futures Gold Futures Top 40 Futures
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Market Indicators |
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Commodities $ |
Cross Currencies ($) |
Major Indices |
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| Gold | 1787,25 | (-0.12) | USD/ZAR | 15,26 | Top40 | 59800,02 | (-0.09) |
| Platinum | 1008,25 | (+2.84) | GBP/ZAR | 20,84 | Dow 30 | 35120,08 | (+0.64) |
| Brent | 66,06 | (-1.03) | EUR/ZAR | 17,88 | S&P 500 | 4441,67 | (+0.81) |
| Copper | 4,17 | (+1.92) | EUR/USD | 1,1715 | FTSE | 7087,90 | (+0.41) |
| Palladium | 2301,00 | (-1.37) | USD/JPY | 109,96 | DAX | 15808,04 | (+0.27) |
| Iron Ore | 139,50 | (-1.79) | BITCOIN | 47194,30 | Shanghai | 3471,51 | (+1.65) |
| Source: Investing.com | |||||||