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Rand recovers after weakening on downgrade alert
March 3, 2015--The rand has firmed after tumbling to two-and-a-half week lows earlier when rating's agency Fitch
warned that South Africa could lose its investment grade status.
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Source: FIN24
S&P Dow Jones Indices-Africa Index Dashboard
March 2, 2015--South African-listed companies pushed the S&P All Africa to a healthy 3.4% gain in February. Equity markets in Kenya and Zimbabwe also improved on a good start to the year with further gains (3.9% and 2.9%, respectively).
February was another tough month for West Africa, with Nigeria adding a further 2.2% to already material year-to-date losses. And despite agreeing a $1bn loan from the IMF to revive the economy near month end, Ghana's markets also fell (-4.7%). However the wooden spoon goes to Egypt, where legal uncertainty over an election due later this month concerned investors and saw the S&P Egypt BMI fall by 5.4%.
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Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
IMF Working paper-Remittances and Macroeconomic Volatility in African Countries
March 2, 2015--Summary: This paper investigates the channels through which remittances affect macroeconomic volatility in African countries using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model augmented with financial frictions. Empirical results indicate that remittances-as a share of GDP-have a significant smoothing impact on output volatility but their impact on consumption volatility is somewhat small.
Furthermore, remittances are found to absorb a substantial amount of GDP shocks in these countries. An investigation of the theoretical channels shows that the stabilization impact of remittances essentially hinges on two channels: (i) the size of the negative wealth effect on labor supply induced by remittances and, (ii) the strength of financial frictions and the ability of remittances to alleviate these frictions.
view the IMF Working paper-Remittances and Macroeconomic Volatility in African Countries
Source: IMF
Rand weakens on strong dollar pressures
March 2, 2015--The rand has weakened against the dollar, in line with other emerging-market currencies
after the greenback strengthened on growing prospects of a rise in US interest rates.
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Source: FIN24
Nigeria: Foreign Investors Participation Drops On NSE
March 2, 2015--Data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, showed a significant drop in foreign investors'' participation as at December 2014, while a significant increase was recorded on domestic side.
During the period ended December 31, 2014, foreign investors' participation on the NSE dropped to 48.24 percent, as against 80.92 participation rate achieved in November 2014.
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Source: AllAfrica.com
JSE consolidates in line with world markets
February 27, 2015--The JSE has continued to consolidate, following world markets which are moving mostly
sideways after recent records.
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Source: FIN24
Rand steady vs dollar as market digests budget
February 27, 2015--The rand has steadied against the dollar as traders await the release of trade data later
in the day and continue to digest Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's budget.
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Source: FIN24
JSE in consolidation mode
February 26, 2015--Major indices on the JSE seem to be consolidating after recent weeks' record-breaking run
as Investors use opportunities to take profits and pick up bargains.
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Source: FIN24
Rand hardly moves on Nene's budget speech
February 26, 2015--The day after Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene raised income tax for the first time in 20
years, the rand has been trading not far off its previous closing level.
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Source: FIN24
Rand weakens, bonds pare gains after budget
February 25, 2015--The rand has weakened against the dollar and government bonds have pared gains after
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene raised income taxes and cut economic growth forecasts.
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Source: FIN24
