Daily Report 18 January 2023

SA Company News:

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.27% higher at the 79 385 level.

Platinum miners, Anglo American Platinum, Northam Platinum and Impala Platinum dropped 4.8%, 2.14% and 2.08%, respectively.

EOH said that the group aims to raise up to R600m through the rights issue and an additional R100m in a broad-based BEE. EOH said the final terms of the offer, including the subscription price and the ratio of rights offer shares to ordinary shares held, is expected to be announced tomorrow.

The Spar Group said that Chief Executive Brett Botten is retiring and will step down on the 31^st of January. Spar expects to name a new CEO in due course.

 

SA Economy:

Mining production slumped by 9% year-on-year in November 2022, after an upwardly revised 11% drop in the previous month and worse than market forecasts of a 6.85% decline. The largest negative contributors were PGMs (-22%); iron ore (-19.4%) and diamonds (-21.5%).

South Africa’s National Energy Crisis Committee, a body run by the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa, presented a draft of an emergency plan to end load shedding in the country.

The finance minister, Enoch Godongwana said at the World Economic Forum that government has a plan to improve energy provision that will end the need for power cuts within the next 12-18 months.

 

​Global Economy:

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany rebounded sharply to 16.9, up from -23.3 in December. Economists had anticipated that the reading would come in at -15.

The annual inflation rate in Germany was at 8.6% in December of 2022, the lowest in four months and in line with preliminary estimate.

The unemployment rate in the UK was unchanged at 3.7% in the three months to November 2022, the same as in the previous period and in line with expectations.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its key short-term interest rate at -0.1% and that for 10-year bond yields around 0% at its January meeting. The central bank also kept its 0.5% cap for bond buying.

The annual inflation rate in the UK fell to 10.5% in December 2022 from 10.7% in November, matching market forecasts.

 

Global Company:

The FTSE 100 closed 0.12% lower at 7 851, dragged lower by consumer discretionary and financials shares.

Ocado Group fell more than 9% after the company warned about slowing consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas.

The Hang Seng Index is higher by 0.16% to 21 610, supported by gains in industrials, energy, and tech stocks.

In China, the Shanghai Composite is trading flat at 3 226.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.16% lower to 33 910, while the S&P 500 was down 0.2% to 3 990.

Goldman Sachs reported fourth-quarter results that missed analysts’ estimates for profit amid steep declines in investment banking and asset management revenue. The company posted earnings of $3.32 per share vs. $5.48 estimate and revenue of $10.59 billion vs. $10.83 billion estimate.

Morgan Stanley shares rose 5.9% after surprising investors on the upside after it said that its trading business got a boost from the market volatility.

 

Commodities:

Gold is down 0.1% to $1 907/oz, while Platinum is lower by 2.28% to $1 037/oz.

Brent crude was 1.33% higher at $85.92 a barrel.

 

Currencies:

The rand traded at R17.09 against the US Dollar, R21.01 against British Pound and R18.43 against the Euro.

The Euro is slightly weaker against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0785.