As we await the decision on the $700bn bailout in the US, the local markets were hit hard as many players are awaiting on news from the US. The all-share index was 5.76% lower, with resources sinking 8.22%; platinum miners were 4.04% down and gold stocks were in the red 4.42%. Industrials shed 3.60%, financials slumped 4.45% and banks lost 3.66%. Old Mutual caught the eye today as it lost close to 10%. A lot of attention has been focused on Old Mutual in recent weeks, with the company coming under fire following write-downs in its US life operations and exposure to failed US financial services firms such as AIG, US mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and Lehman Brothers. We have to wait and see what decision is reached in the US later on tonight and see how that will affect the local markets.

The all share indexed closed 1.31% lower today to reach the 30 639.950 point mark. This is the lowest the all share index has been since April this year. Analysts say the reason for todays drop was largely due to offshore fund selling ahead of the central banks decision on interest rates expected tomorrow (Thursday). All eyes on the market will be on Tito Mboweni to see if he increases interest rates and if so by how much. Many, including us at TheRandToday.com, predict interest rates to go up by 100 basis points.

Resources fell 1.80%, and the gold and platinum mining indices were down 2.82% and 1.92% respectively. Banks lost 0.88%, financials slumped 0.92% and industrials were 0.74% in the red. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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.

Following on from yesterday’s release of the CPIX statistics coming in at 10.4%, the producer price inflation (PPI) figures were released today and they rose by 12.4% year-on-year in April from 11.9% year-on-year in March. With the rising CPIX and PPI it is almost certain that the central bank will increase interest rates come June 12. With this in mind, banking stocks took a knock on the JSE today fuelled by the likelihood of an aggressive interest rate hike. The all share index lost 0.98%. Banks were the hardest hit in todays trading with Investec loosing 4.40% to close at R52.10 and FirstRand shedding 2.57% to close at R14.41. Read the rest of this entry »

The JSE ended in the red again today largely due to the falling metal prices and the terrible inflation statistics released today. The all share index closed 0.79% lower. Resources were down 1% while the gold index slumped 2.41% and the platinum index shed 2.12%. The Banks were down 0.93%, so to were financials by 0.28%. These two sectors were not helped at all by the inflation data released today which suggests there will be an interest rate hike soon.

The rand did not show much reaction to the inflation statistics. If anything the rand actually got stronger today. By the close of the JSE the rand was bid at R7.6784 to the dollar from a previous close of R7.7212. It was bid at R12.0325/€ from a previous R12.1205 and at R15.1864/£ from R15.2440 before.