Archive for January 29th, 2010

The latest inflation data validate the South African Reserve Bank’s decision this week to keep its key policy interest rate unchanged at 7% for the fourth straight month. Whilst a rate cut would support South Africa’s recovery, it would add pressure to consumer price inflation, which continues to hover at the upper end of the… »

Credit extension to the private sector (PSCE) grew at a negative rate of -0.8% year-on-year (y/y) in December from a negative rate of -1.6% y/y in November, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said on Friday.
The rate of growth of South Africa’s broad M3 money supply measure rose by
1.6% in… »

Woolworths Holdings (WHL) said Friday that it plans to issue 11 million Woolworths ordinary shares from its authorised but unissued ordinary share capital, to Woolworths (Proprietary) Limited (WPL) - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woolworths - based on a subscription price of 17.24 cents per ordinary share.

The specific issue is regarded as a… »

Although we saw a slight increase in total household sector credit growth in December, it is too early to say that this is the start of a rising trend, and the growth rate remains very weak. At such a weak rate, and given that the economy has begun to stabilise, we expect household sector nominal… »

Investec continues to consolidate its position as a well capitalised, diversified, specialist bank and asset manager, with a strong recurring revenue base underpinning profitability This Interim Management Statement is issued by Investec in accordance with the UK Listing Authority’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Unless stated otherwise, key trends and figures highlighted below refer to the… »

Mr Soros, arguably the most famous hedge fund manager in history, warned that with interest rates low around the world, policymakers were risking generating new bubbles which could cause crashes in the future. In comments delivered on the fringe of the World Economic Forum, Mr Soros said: “When interest rates are low we have conditions… »

Every Davos the topic of conversation some time between the first and second evenings, the topic of conversation invariably turns to the guest list – the sad shake-your-head conclusion being that this year’s World Economic Forum “really isn’t as well-attended as last… »

As Greece’s Prime Minister battled to persuade the world’s media that his government was taking radical action to fix the country’s public finances, the German Economics Minister said that weak states such as Greece may have a “fatal” impact on the remainder of the eurozone.

Rainer Brüderle told German MPs: “Some euro states are showing dangerous… »

SINGAPORE — Most Asian stock markets were trading sharply lower Friday after Wall Street’s losses, with the tech and resource sectors leading declines.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies was down 1.5%, South Korea’s Kospi Composite was down 1.6%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.9%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shed 0.6%, while on… »

The first month of the year is ending with a thud for stocks, which are on track to record their biggest loss since the final sell-off of the bear market last February.

Even a solid vote by the Senate to give Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke another four-year term didn’t remove enough uncertainty to push the… »