Daily Report 31 March 2023

SA Company News:

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.29% higher at the 76 705 level.

Metair Investments reported a loss for full-year 2022 amid higher revenue at R13.91 billion from R12.62 billion. Loss attributable to shareholders for the year ended 31 December 2022, was R40.4 million, compared with a profit of R674.8 million a year ago. Loss per share stood at 21 cents per share, from an EPS of R3.46.

MTN Group said that they will invest R1.5 billion rand ($84 million) to ensure its mobile network operates effectively during the rolling power blackouts. The investment will see MTN installing solar power, batteries and generators, and enhancing security features at base stations to ensure improved network availability during load shedding.

 

SA Economy:

Private sector credit expanded 8.28% year-on-year in February after rising by 8.42% in January.

The M3 measure of money supply increased 10.81% year-on-year in February after expanding by 9.57% the previous month.

Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 12.2% year-on-year in February 2023, compared to a 12.7% rise in January, but below market forecasts of 12.3%.

The South African Reserve Bank raised the benchmark repo rate by 50 bps to 7.75%, , bringing the prime lending rate to 11.25%.The market had expected a smaller 25 bps increase.

 

Global Economy:

German CPI data showed that inflationary pressures in Europe’s largest economy cooled sharply in March. CPI eased further to 7.4% year-on-year in March 2023, down from 8.7% in the previous two months and compared with market expectations of 7.3%.

US GDP growth was revised slightly lower. The revision primarily reflected downward revisions to exports, imports and consumer spending. The American economy expanded an annualized 2.6% on quarter in the last three months of 2022, slightly down than initial estimates of a 2.7% rise.

China’s official PMI for March fell to 51.9 from 52.6 in the prior month, but remained in expansionary territory, indicating a continued economic rebound after the Covid reopening, which may boost sentiment.

Britain’s economy expanded by 0.6% from a year earlier during the fourth quarter of 2022. For the full year the UK economy grew by 4.1%, easing from a record 7.6% expansion in 2021.

 

Global Company:

The FTSE 100 closed 0.74% higher at 7 620, the positive sentiment was attributed to growing speculation that a peak in interest rates is near.

The Hang Seng Index is higher by 0.74% to 20 462, stocks were lead higher on reports that e-commerce firm JD.com plans on splitting its operations, the firm said that they plan to spin off its property and industrial units on the Hong Kong exchange, valuing each of them at $1 billion. JD.Com shares rose 6.7%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.3% to 3 271.

U.S. stocks extended their gains on hopes that the Federal Reserve could soon pause its interest-rate increases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.43% higher to 32 859, while the S&P 500 was up 0.57% to 4 050.

 

Commodities:

Gold is up 0.72% to $1 980/oz, while Platinum is higher by 2.15% to $985.20/oz.

Brent crude was 1.27% higher at $79.29 a barrel.

 

Currencies:

The rand traded at R17.86 against the US Dollar, R22.12 against British Pound and R19.47 against the Euro.

The Euro is slightly firmer against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0899.