SA Company News:
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.88% higher at the 77 054 level on Friday.
Mr Price led the gains with a nearly 6.3% rise, following positive results from the company. Other top performers included Woolworths (+6.83%) MTN Group (+2.8%), Bidvest (+2.4%), Absa Group (+2.3%) and Nedbank (+2.2%).
Telkom announced that its headline earnings surged by 201% for the full year ending 31 March 2024. This significant increase was driven by sustained demand for its next-generation technologies and effective cost-optimization initiatives. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) rose to 376 cents, up from 124.8 cents. Telkom said that full year mobile service revenue was up 6.8% to R19 026 million and group revenue up 1.6% to R43 230 million. Telkom also indicated that it would be in a position to pay dividends in the near term, with the financial year 2025 targeted as the first year-end to consider dividend payments.
SA Economy:
Economists differ on the consumer inflation outcome for May due out tomorrow from Stats SA.
The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) at Stellenbosch University expects inflation to rise to 5.5% year on year from 5.2% in April, 5.3% in March and 5.6% in February while Nedbank has forecast it to remain steady at 5.2% and Trading Economics a slowdown to 5%.
Global Economy:
China’s retail sales beat expectations in May, climbing 3.7% compared with a year ago and beating expectations of a 3% rise, while industrial output grew by 5.6% year-on-year, missing the 6% increase expected, while fixed asset investment rose 4% compared to last May, just short of the 4.2% analysts expected.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) left its medium-term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.5% with investors now looking ahead to the PBOC’s loan prime rate decisions on Thursday to guide the outlook further.
Global Company:
The FTSE 100 closed 0.06% lower at 8 142.
The FTSE 100 pared earlier gains and ended flat, as markets continued to evaluate the Bank of England’s potential interest rate cuts and the political risks in Europe and the UK ahead of next month’s election.
Asian markets are trading mixed as investors continue to speculate on additional policy support from government in response to China’s weak economic data.
The Hang Seng Index is trading 0.26% lower at 18 068.
In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.27% to 3 026.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.49% higher to 38 778, while the S&P 500 closed 0.76% higher at 5 473. US markets will be closed tomorrow for the Juneteenth holiday.
Still, enthusiasm over artificial intelligence continued to push mega-cap tech names, with strong gains from 1.2%. Microsoft that rose more than 1%, while Apple jumped about 2%. Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms also finished higher.
Commodities:
Gold is trading unchanged at 0.18% at $2 320/oz, while Platinum is higher by 2.27% to $976.47/oz.
Brent crude was 2.03% higher at $83.60 a barrel.
Currencies:
The rand traded at R18.27 against the US Dollar, R23.19 against British Pound and R19.59 against the Euro.
The Euro is slightly weaker against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0720.
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Market Indicators |
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| Commodities $ | Cross Currencies ($) | Major Indices | |||||
| Gold | 2320.95 | 0.00% | USD/ZAR | 18.27 | Top40 | 70519.55 | 0.00% |
| Platinum | 976.47 | 2.27% | GBP/ZAR | 23.19 | Dow 30 | 38778.10 | 0.49% |
| Brent | 83.60 | 2.03% | EUR/ZAR | 19.59 | S&P 500 | 5473.23 | 0.76% |
| Copper | 4.45 | 0.67% | EUR/USD | 1.0720 | FTSE | 8142.15 | -0.06% |
| Palladium | 894.46 | 0.57% | USD/JPY | 157.47 | DAX | 18068.21 | 0.37% |
| Iron Ore | 108.15 | 3.19% | BITCOIN | 65719.00 | Shanghai | 3026.80 | 0.27% |
| Source: FACTSET | |||||||