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SA MARKET WRAP: Friday July 10
Johannesburg, July 10 (I-Net Bridge) – South African markets ended the week generally weaker on Friday, with little in the way of news or data to provide fresh impetus.
EQUITIES
The JSE ended flat on Friday amid a very quiet day of trade as international markets went to sleep ahead of company earnings season, according to a local trader.
By 17:00 the JSE all share index had added 0.70%, with resources up 1.18%.
Gold counters gained 0.59% and platinum miners inched 0.30% higher.
Banks advanced 1.67%, with financials and industrials adding 0.92% and 0.09%
respectively.
The rand was bid at 8.21 to the dollar from 8.11 when the JSE closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at US$912.75/oz a troy ounce from US$912/oz at the JSE’s last close, and platinum was at US$1,106/oz, from US$1,104/oz at its previous close.
A local trader said: “We have had a very light day today, markets seem to have gone to sleep ahead of corporate earnings next week, and there is still uncertainty about.”
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At 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT)
TRADE CLOSE PERC POINTS
ALL SHARE (J203) 22313.410 22157.881 0.70 155.529
INDUSTRIALS (J257) 21453.590 21434.840 0.09 18.750
FINANCIALS (J580) 16526.620 16376.390 0.92 150.230
RESOURCES (J210) 39240.490 38781.320 1.18 459.170
GOLD (J150) 2253.080 2239.890 0.59 13.190
PLATINUM (J153) 59.600 59.420 0.30 0.180
BANKS (J835) 31956.070 31431.000 1.67 525.070
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Value traded 5.283 billion rand
Volume 181.822 million shares
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Highest value traded shares:
Naspers N 225.00 rand dn 0.50 rand
Anglo 222.00 rand up 6.00 rand
Sasol 273.40 rand up 6.90 rand
Standard Bank 93.00 rand up 1.40 rand
BHP Billiton 174.51 rand up 0.51 rand
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BONDS
South African bond yields were little changed in quiet trade late Friday.
By 18:00 the short-term government R153 bond was bid at 7.300% from a previous 7.310%. The medium-term R157 was at 8.635% from 8.640%, while the long-term R186 was bid at 9.175% from 9.170% before.
The rand was last at 8.2507 to the dollar from a previous close of 8.1070.
Foreigners were net buyers of 566.568 million rand worth of South African bonds including repo transactions on Thursday after net purchases of 199.964 million rand worth of local bonds on Wednesday, Bond Exchange of South Africa statistics show.
Nominal cumulative volume was 68.041 billion rand on Thursday from 32.175 billion rand on Wednesday.
Foreigners were net buyers of 569.222 million rand worth of South African bonds, excluding repo transactions, on Thursday after net purchases of 107.316 million rand worth of local bonds on Wednesday.
On a year-to-date basis, foreigners have been net buyers of 14.811 billion rand worth of local bonds, excluding repo transactions.
On a year to date basis for total transactions, including repo transactions, foreigners have been net sellers of 7.226 billion rand.
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18:00 local time Range so far Previous
(16:00 GMT) Close
R153 (2009/11) 7.300% bid 7.295-7.345 7.310%
R157 (2015) 8.635% 8.625-8.690 8.640%
R186 (2026) 9.175% bid 9.160-9.215 9.170%
Bond Exchange of South Africa (in billions of rand)
Wednesday Thursday
Nominal cumulative volume 32.175 68.041
Net foreign purchases/(sales) 0.200 0.567
Net foreign purchases/(sales) in 2009: (7.226) billion rand
Net foreign purchases/(sales) in 2008: (40.729 billion rand)
Net foreign purchases for 2007: 6.594 billion rand
Net foreign purchases for 2006: 30.008 billion rand
Repo rate: 7.5%
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CURRENCIES
The South African rand lost momentum and weakened from its earlier levels by late afternoon trade on Friday, with 8.25 being a good resistance level, a local trader said.
At 18:00 the rand was bid at 8.2507 to the dollar from its Thursday night close of 8.1070. It was bid at 11.4815 to the euro from a previous 11.3508 and at 13.3545 against sterling from 13.2373.
The euro was bid at US$1.3924 from US$1.4022 on Thursday.
“The rand started off around 8.13 this morning and found some support. We are seeing a continuation of dollar buying against the rand,” a local currency trader said.
“We have seen a high of 8.25. 8.25 will be a good resistance level. Now we want to see if we will close above that. We will track equities overnight.
“If we do close above 8.25, 8.35 will be our next level. For now, 8.25 remains a big level and we remain in a broad range of 8.10-8.25,” he said.
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Bids: 18:00 local time Range so far Previous Close
(16:00 GMT)
Dlr/Rand 8.2507 8.0952-8.2660 8.1070
Euro/Rand 11.4815 11.3224-11.5040 11.3508
Sterling/Rand 13.3545 13.1919-13.3720 13.2373
Euro/Dollar 1.3924 1.3873-1.4030 1.4022
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FUTURES
South African near-dated futures ended slightly higher on Friday supported by a good performance in resource counters.
The near-dated Alsi contract closed 88 points, or 0.44%, higher at 19,990.
The rand was last bid at 8.24 to the US dollar, from 8.12 when the market closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at US$909.95 a troy ounce from US$912.10 at its previous close.
A total of 18,391 contracts changed hands on Friday, compared with 27,062 on Thursday, a Safex official said.
A local trader said: “Mining stocks helped us today. Anglo is up nicely and the financials also did well.”
Dow Jones Newswires reported that a profit warning from Chevron and a weak reading of consumer confidence kept a leash on stocks on Friday.
Major indices were mixed. The DJIA was down nine points, or 0.1%, at 8174.10, hurt by a 2.8% decline in component Chevron after the oil giant said that poor profits at refineries and the financial impact of a weakening US dollar would damp the benefit of higher crude-oil prices in its second-quarter results.
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