Yet another day and the JSE continues to slide down. The all share index ended 0.66% down. It could have been much worse as the index lost up to 400 points at one stage during the day but closed to only concede 207.880 points. The major loses were seen in Resources which fell 1.64%. The gold mining index dropped 0.79% whilst the platinum mining index lost 3.04%. Mining stocks were under pressure today largely due to the softening metal prices.

Banks were on the up today after the lows they experienced yesterday. Banks gained 3.40% and financials also gained 1.71%. Some analysts think that the reason banks performed well today was because there was a lot of bargain hunting on bank stocks as some think the valuation of banks right now is very cheap. One can not be too sure how the banks are going to fair with the likely interest rate hike approaching. Read the rest of this entry »

The JSE remains to be on a downward trend. The all share index closed 0.12% lower today. The major looser today were the banks, which shed 1.28%. Banks continue to be under pressure due to the interest rate worries being imposed by the rising inflation in South Africa. There is a possibility that interest rates in South Africa could be increased by as much as 200 basis points when the MPC meets on June 12 to make a decision on interest rates. Financials also lost 0.44% today so to did resources which closed 0.10% in the red.

Looking at the rand today, at 18:00 the rand was bid at R7.7053/$ from a previous close of R7.7197 having reached the R7.7845 mark during the day. Against the other currencies, the rand was bid at R11.9116/€ from a previous level of R12.0028 and at R15.1190/£ from R15.1517 before.

Statistics released today from The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) showed that new vehicle sales in South Africa fell by 23.4% in May compared to the same month last year. This is a drop of 12 095 units to 39 533 units being sold in May this year. There are several factors which caused this huge decline, such as; the public holidays at the beginning of the month that meant there were fewer working days in the month and the disruptions caused to business by the xenophobia attacks. Read the rest of this entry »

This seems to be becoming a regular news update on TheRandToday.com . The price of fuel is set to go up at midnight tonight by 50 cents a litre for petrol this after a 55 cent increase in April. The price of unleaded petrol in Gauteng thereby increases to 996 cents a litre and to 972 cents at the coast. TheRandToday.com ran a poll where we asked readers if they thought we would see R10 for a litre of petrol this year and our question has been answered and we are only half way through the year. Maybe we should now take bets to see if the price will reach R20 a litre by December. With the way things are going, we may be headed that way. Read the rest of this entry »

The JSE closed in the red today after posting earlier gains. The all share index closed 0.36% down. Dominating the JSE today were Telkom shares after reports suggesting the local telecoms giant was in talks with UK’s Vodafone over a potential buyout. The Telkom shares ended 8% higher today, closing at R148.49. During the day, Telkom shares had risen by as much as 15%. There have also been suggestions that Mvelaphanda Group may also make a bid for Telkom.

On the currency front, at 17:00 the rand was bid at R7.72/$ from a previous close of R7.5975. It was bid at R11.98/€ from a previous R11.8416 and at R15.1500/£ from R15.0128 before.

“If you have millions of young people who feel so excluded from all that is good in society, then sometimes this takes a form of actions against others,” These words the words of South Africa’s finance minister, Trevor Manuel, in an interview published in the Financial Times on Saturday. Judging by this statement by Manuel, it is clear to see that he thinks there is a possibility that the xenophobia attacks over the past three weeks in South Africa could have been fuelled by the poor people in South Africa who are getting poorer because of the economy. Read the rest of this entry »