SA Company News:
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 1.8% lower at 69 719 on Friday as fears of a recession weighed on market sentiment. Implats closed 5% down, while Kumba fell 4%. Standard Bank Group Ltd. said that net profit for the first six months of the year rose to R15.67 billion from R11.41 billion for the same period last year and that net interest income rose to R34.41 billion from R29.97 billion a year ago. The increase in earnings allowed Standard Bank to increase its dividend by 43%. The company declared an interim dividend of R5.15 per share. MTN Group Limited advised shareholders that discussions relating acquiring the entire issued share capital of Telkom in return for shares or a combination of cash and shares in MTN is still in progress.
SA Economy:
Statistics South Africa (STATSA) will publish the employment figures for the second quarter tomorrow. The official unemployment rate is expected to rise back up above 35%. StatsSA will also publish the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July on Wednesday and the Producer Price Index (PPI) for July on Thursday. The Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) called workers to down their tools and join the national shutdown against rising cost of fuel and food on Wednesday. Cosatu president, Zingiswa Losi said that the intention of the strike is to demand urgent action from the government to take drastic steps to avoid an economic collapse that is threatening the lives of many people. Global Economy: Recession fears are starting to mount in Europe, with natural gas prices hitting record highs, adding to inflationary pressures just as the Eurozone’s consumer prices rose by 8.9% annually in July, way above the European Central Bank’s 2% target. China’s central bank has cut its one-year benchmark lending rate by 5 basis points to 3.65% and its five-year rate by 15 basis points to 4.3%. Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell is expected to speak at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday and that may shed some light on the pace of future interest rate hikes.
Global Company:
The FTSE 100 was slightly higher by 0.11% to 7 608, with gains in healthcare and energy shares. The Hang Seng Index is down 0.2% to 19 734. NetEase reported a 49% increase in earnings in the first half of the year to 5.29 billion yuan from 3.54 billion yuan and revenue rose 12.8% year over year to 23.2 billion yuan. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 053% to 3 275. Shares of PetroChina, the oil and gas producer, gained 2% after Bloomberg reported that the firm intends to spin off its marketing and trading business into a separate listing. US stocks closed sharply lower on Friday. At the close the S&P 500 was down 1.29%, at 4 228. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.86%, to 33 706. Technology and high-growth stocks were among the main losers of the session. Axsome Therapeutics shares rose 21% after the company secured US Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of depressive disorder. Shares of Occidental Petroleum gained more than 9% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway received permission to buy to half of the oil company.
Commodities:
Gold is down 0.75% to $1 743/oz, while Platinum is lower by 2.18% to $890/oz. Brent crude fell 0.97% to $95 a barrel.
Currencies:
The rand traded at R17.01 against the US Dollar, R20.13 against British Pound and R17.08 against the Euro. The Euro is weaker against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0028.
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| Market Indicators | |||||||
| Commodities $ | Cross Currencies ($) | Major Indices | |||||
| Gold | 1743.59 | -0.75% | USD/ZAR | 17.01 | Top40 | 62974.00 | -1.92% |
| Platinum | 890.80 | -2.18% | GBP/ZAR | 20.13 | Dow 30 | 33706.74 | -0.87% |
| Brent | 95.16 | -0.97% | EUR/ZAR | 17.08 | S&P 500 | 4228.48 | -1.31% |
| Copper | 3.67 | 1.19% | EUR/USD | 1.0028 | FTSE | 7550.37 | 0.11% |
| Palladium | 2138.50 | -0.37% | USD/JPY | 137.10 | DAX | 13544.52 | -1.13% |
| Iron Ore | 104.00 | 0.00% | BITCOIN | 21307.20 | Shanghai | 3276.56 | 0.40% |
| Source: Moneyweb & Investing.com | |||||||