SA Company News:
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.2% lower at the 80 445 level. The JSE index was slightly down, making it the fourth straight session of losses. Financials, industrials and resource stocks were among the worst performers.
Sibanye-Stillwater said that it has experienced a cyber-attack which affected its IT systems globally. As soon as the company became aware of the incident, immediate containment measures were implemented in line with the company’s incident response plan, to proactively isolate IT systems and safeguard data. While the investigation into the incident is ongoing, there has been limited disruption to the Group’s operations globally.
Sirius Real Estate proposed raising approximately £150 million (around 11.6% of its current market cap) through a capital raise at an offer price of 94 pence per share to support its ongoing acquisition strategy. The proposed capital raise will include an institutional placing for new and existing shareholders through an accelerated book build that was launched yesterday in the UK and South Africa. Additionally, there will be an offer of new ordinary shares to retail shareholders in the UK to raise up to £2.5 million, and a subscription offer to certain directors and managers, contributing approximately £125 000 in total.
BHP Group said that they are going to temporarily suspend the company’s western Australia nickel operations at its Nickel West operations and the West Musgrave project starting in October, due to a sharp decline in metal prices and an oversupply in the global market.
SA Economy:
Mining and manufacturing figures will be released later today which will offer insights into economy. Nedbank expects a 1% year-on-year increase in mining production for May, following a 0.7% gain in April and a 4.8% drop in March. Manufacturing production is expected to rise by 2.4% after a 5.3% jump in April and a 6.5% decline in March, when load-shedding was still a constraint. Trading Economics is more optimistic and forecasts a 1.7% year-on-year rise for mining production and a 3.2% increase for manufacturing.
Global Economy:
Mortgage applications in the US eased by 0.2% in the first week of July, lightly holding the 2.6% drop from the final week of June, according to data compiled by the MBA.
US wholesale inventories rose by 0.6% month-over-month to $901.7 billion in May 2024, matching the advance estimate and following a 0.2% increase in the prior month as stocks of non-durables rebounded (0.7% vs -0.3%). Notable increases in stocks of farm products (+5.2%) and drugs (+3.1%) more than offset the decline in those of petroleum (-6.4%).
The annual inflation rate in Germany fell to 2.2% in June 2024, down from 2.4% in the previous month, which was in line with estimates.
The British economy expanded 0.4% month-over-month in May 2024 after stalling in April and beating forecasts of a 0.2% increase.
Global Company:
The FTSE 100 closed 0.66% higher at 8 193. The FTSE 100 traded slightly higher following three days of losses.
The Hang Seng Index is trading 1.63% higher at 17 758. Hong Kong stocks rallied as sentiment improved following actions by China’s securities regulator to curb short-selling and computer-driven quant trading, aiming to restore investor confidence.
In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.8% to 2 963, with growth-oriented stocks leading the rebound as risk sentiment improved globally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.08% higher to 39 721, while the S&P 500 closed 1.01% higher at 5 633.
AI-related chip shares led the charge, with strong gains from Nvidia (+2.7%), AMD (+3.9%) and Micron Technology (+4%). Other tech companies also advanced, Apple (+1.9%), Microsoft (+1.5%) and Alphabet (+1.2%).
Commodities:
Gold is trading higher by 0.54% at $2 382/oz, while Platinum is higher by 0.9% to $995.62/oz.
Brent crude was 1.61% higher at $85.32 a barrel.
Currencies:
The rand traded at R18.11 against the US Dollar, R23.28 against British Pound and R19.62 against the Euro.
The Euro is slightly firmer against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0835.
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| Market Indicators | |||||||
| Commodities $ | Cross Currencies ($) | Major Indices | |||||
| Gold | 2382.48 | 0.54% | USD/ZAR | 18.11 | Top40 | 73478.00 | -0.14% |
| Platinum | 995.62 | 0.90% | GBP/ZAR | 23.28 | Dow 30 | 39721.36 | 1.08% |
| Brent | 85.32 | 1.61% | EUR/ZAR | 19.62 | S&P 500 | 5633.91 | 1.01% |
| Copper | 4.61 | 1.08% | EUR/USD | 1.0835 | FTSE | 8193.51 | 0.66% |
| Palladium | 999.12 | 2.03% | USD/JPY | 161.70 | DAX | 18407.22 | 0.93% |
| Iron Ore | 108.95 | 2.07% | BITCOIN | 57792.00 | Shanghai | 2963.18 | 0.80% |
| Source: FACTSET | |||||||