Daily Report 01 November 2022

SA Company News:
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.4% higher at the 66 672 level, mainly pushed up by gains in tech stock, Naspers which closed 7.96% higher at R1900.10.
Adcorp Holdings released interim financial results for the six months ended 31 August 2022, saying that revenue from continuing operations increased by 3.2% to R5,9 billion (2021: R5,7 billion) and headline earnings per share from continuing operations decreased to 24,6 cents per share (2021: 25,7 cents per share).
Adcorp provides outsourcing, training, and professional recruitment services, and it generates about 45% of its revenue in Australia. The company declared an interim dividend of 12.2 cents per share.
The rating agency, S&P Global has raised Sasol’s long-term credit rating to BB+ from BB as the company has significantly cut its debt and improved its cash-flows. S&P said that the strong oil price is anticipated to translate into strong earnings for Sasol’s fuels business which will offset near-term headwinds in the group’s chemicals business.
Octodec released annual results for the year ended 31 August 2022, where the company said that headline and diluted earnings per share was up by 45.6% to 258.7 cents and revenue was up 5.7% to R1.94 billion. Octodec declared a final dividend of 80 cents per share.

SA Economy:
South Africa recorded a trade surplus of 19.70 billion rand ($1.07 billion) in September, up from a revised surplus of 6.20 billion rand in August. The South African Revenue Service said that exports rose 10.0% month on month to 191.56 billion rand in September, while imports were up 2.3% at 171.86 billion rand.
Transnet said that its port terminals division had lifted force majeure across all terminals, including its container terminals.

Global Economy:
The annual inflation rate in the Euro Area continued to break record high levels and jumped to 10.7% in October 2022 from 9.9% in September.
The Euro Area economy expanded 0.2% on quarter in the three months to September 2022, following a 0.7% growth in Q2, in line with market expectations.
The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.2 in October 2022 from September’s 4-month low of 48.1.
The US Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates by 75 basis points tomorrow, for the fourth time this year as the central bank seeks to tame inflation.

Global Company:
The FTSE 100 closed 0.66% higher at 7 094.
Credit Suisse disclosed details of its plan to raise $4 billion, as it aims to source funds to pay for a painful restructuring involving thousands of job cuts and a slimming down of its investment bank. The bank is now offering new and existing shareholders the chance to buy new shares. The transactions are subject to shareholder approval during its general meeting on 23rd of November.
The Hang Seng Index is higher by 3.69 % to 15 229. The Hang Seng climbed as technical indicators suggested that the recent sell-off was overdone. Alibaba Group jumped 5.78% to HK$65.00 and Tencent soared 7.88% to HK$221.80.
In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 1.14% to 2 927.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39 % to 3273, while the S&P 500 was lower by 0.75% to 3 871, as investors reassessed the outlook for growth and monetary policy.

Commodities:
Gold is down 0.09% to $1 642/oz, while Platinum is flat at $941.20/oz.
Brent crude was 0.11% lower at $92.86 a barrel.

Currencies:
The rand traded at R18.25 against the US Dollar, R21.06 against British Pound and R18.12 against the Euro.
The Euro is slightly firmer against the US Dollar to trade at $0.9928.