Daily Report 05 December 2022

SA Company News:

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.9% lower at the 74 323 level.

MTN said that they are proceeding with the deregistration of sim cards of Ghanian subscribers who haven’t submitted their biometric data. MTN Group Ltd. said that they will restrict all services to around 5.7 million customers to comply with the Ghana National Communications Authority’s directive on unregistered SIM cards.

Premier Group said on Friday that they have put plans to list on the JSE on hold, just weeks after announcing its intention, citing non-conducive capital markets in the country.

Nampak Limited reported financial results for the year ended 30 September 2022. The company said that

group revenue increased 21% to R16.9bn, as a result of stronger volumes in their South African, Angolan and Nigerian beverage can operations. Headline earnings per share of 35.9cps compared to 62.3cps and a loss per share of 23.1cps compared to earnings per share of 32.1cps. No dividend was declared.

 

SA Economy:

Bond prices ticked higher on Friday, while stocks fell, after the ruling party officials failed to reach a conclusion over whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should stay in power after an inquiry found evidence of misconduct. Ramaphosa faces possible impeachment over the findings of a panel of experts into the theft at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

Stats SA will release the GDP data for the third quarter tomorrow. Economists expect economic growth for the third quarter to lift. FNB economists are slightly more optimistic, expecting a 0.6% third-quarter rise, whereas Investec expects quarter-on-quarter GDP to rise 0.4%.

 

Global Economy:

The US Non-farm payrolls increased by 263 000 in November, a bigger gain than the 200 000 jobs expected by analysts. Average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls rose by 18 cents, or 0.6%, to $32.82 in November 2022. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%.

The S&P Global India Services PMI was up to 56.4 in November 2022 from October’s of 55.1, exceeding market forecasts of 55.4.

The Caixin China General Services PMI fell to 46.7 in November 2022 from 48.4 in October and the Caixin China General Composite PMI fell to 47.0 in November 2022 from 48.53in October.

The S&P Global Hong Kong PMI fell to 48.7 in November 2022 from 49.3 in October.

 

Global Company:

The FTSE 100 closed flat at 7 550, with some weakness in the energy and materials sectors.

Credit Suisse shares rose 0.9% after the chairman, Axel Lehmann, said in a TV interview that outflows from the bank have stopped and that it is seeing some inflows.

Asian shares were higher as investors in the region were positive about the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in China.

The Hang Seng Index is higher by 3.62% to 19 345, led by gains in Chinese tech and property shares. Tencent holdings is higher by 6.6%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 1.77% to 3 209.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly to 34 429, while the S&P 500 was down 0.12% to 4 071.

Marvell Technology fell more than 4% after the semiconductor company said that it had missed quarterly revenue and earnings estimates. The company said its being hurt by inventory reductions from customers.

 

Commodities:

Gold is up 0.38% to $1 807/oz, while Platinum is lower by 4.15% to $1 025.30/oz.

European Union governments have reportedly agreed on a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian oil. European sanctions on Russian oil also kick in this week, while OPEC+ has made the decision to keep its output steady.

Brent crude was 0.77% lower at $86.22 a barrel.

 

Currencies:

The rand traded at R17.28 against the US Dollar, R21.43 against British Pound and R18.28 against the Euro.

The Euro is slightly firmer against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0577.