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Rand rallies against dollar
April 12, 2012--The rand rallied more than 1.5% against the dollar on Thursday in line with other high-yield currencies, as rekindled expectations of further quantitative easing in the US weighed on the greenback.
The unit touched a session high of R7.8825 to the dollar, and was at R7.8970 by 15:30 GMT compared to Wednesday’s close at R8.0050.
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Source: FIN24
Miners hold up JSE in choppy trade
April 11, 2012--South African stocks ended slightly up on Wednesday in a volatile session where mining stocks including gold producers and ferrochrome firm Merafe helped push the market higher.
The world’s No 3 bullion producer AngloGold Ashanti added over 3% to R268.23 after taking a beating in the previous session.
“On the local front, resources are doing well. It has a huge contribution to the whole market being up as well,” said Thys van Zyl, a trader at Thebe Stockbroking.
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Source: FIN24
Rand helped by manufacturing data
April 11, 2012--The rand was helped by strong February manufacturing data in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
"We got a boost from the manufacturing data as it showed that we could in fact be growing faster this year than last year," a local trader said.
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Source: FIN24
SA stocks hit as risk aversion returns
April 10, 2012--South African stocks edged lower tracking a downbeat mood in global markets and look set to weaken further with investors expected to move their money into less risky assets.
Precious metal miners such Anglo American Platinum and AngloGold Ashanti were hit hard, falling over 3%.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds track rand off best
April 10, 2012--South African bonds remained firm in midday play on Tuesday, but were off the session's best levels as the weaker rand weighed on the market.
At its weekly auction, the National Treasury received bids totalling R1.86bn for R700m worth of R203 bonds at a clearing yield of 7.345%, and bids totalling R1.26bn for R700m worth of R208 bonds at a clearing yield of 7.980% and bids totalling R1.20bn for R700m worth of R214 bonds at a clearing yield of 9.040%.
At 11:50, the benchmark R157 bond was at trading 6.790% from its previous close of 6.810%. The R207 was bid at 7.915% and offered at 7.890% from a previous close of 7.910% and the R186 was trading at 8.500% from its close of 8.535%.
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Source: FIN24
Making the market, the story of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange
April 6, 2012--The making of the market- this article by Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange gives a fascinating, self-critical and revealing account of the creation of the exchange and the sometimes breakneck pace at which the market grew and took on new commodities such as coffee.
Particularly important is the idea that a commodity exchange will only have traction in Africa if it improves the lives of smaller rural farmers and traders. Eleni puts focus on “the market institutions needed for quality grades and standards, warehouse receipts, market information, coordinated trading, payment systems, and contract enforcement. All of these, I argued, should be established in a holistic and integrated fashion, rather than in the piecemeal approach observed all over Africa in different donor interventions. I pushed further, presenting for the first time the idea that a commodity exchange was precisely the holistic platform that would integrate all of these elements.”
These were the aims of the ECX, according to a 2005 concept paper: “a commodity exchange would build the needed institutions from the ground up for grading and certifying quality, issuing warehouse receipts, trading, relaying market information to all actors, enforcing contracts, and ensuring payment and delivery. But that was not all. Ethiopia’s commodity exchange would be designed to serve smallholder farmers and small traders, it would not exclude those with less education or less capital, and it would balance the interests of all actors and of the public and private sectors. A commodity exchange would not aim to eliminate traditional markets around the country, but rather to build up these informal markets by adding technology and systems to bring more transparent, more efficient, and more reliable trading to all concerned.”
view the A Market for Abdu-Creating a Commodity Exchange in Ethiopia
Source: African Capital Market News
Stocks lifted ahead of long weekend
April 5, 2012--South African stocks clawed back some lost ground on Thursday, as investors bought back shares of Kumba Iron Ore and other resource stocks that had been hammered in the previous session.
But traders said the recovery was also tempered with caution, ahead of a four-day Easter holiday that starts on Friday.
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Source: FIN24
Rand flails in turbulent waters
April 5, 2012--The rand remained weak but was off the session's worst levels in late trade on Thursday ahead of the Easter long weekend after better than expected US jobless claims data which signalled the world's biggest economy is improving.
At 18:00 local time, the rand was bid at R7.8288 to the dollar from Wednesday's close of 7.8199. It was bid at R10.2291 to the euro from R10.2719 before, and at R12.3803 against sterling from R12.4260 previously.
The euro was bid at $1.3064 from Wednesday's close of $1.3143.
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Source: Fin24
SA stocks dive as gold miners take a knock
Apri1 4, 2012--South African stocks lost ground for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday, falling more than 2% as major miners such as Harmony Gold Mining Company [JSE:HAR] tumbled on a faltering bullion price.
Gold prices hit their lowest since early January on Wednesday as comments from the European Central Bank lifted the dollar to three-week highs against the euro, accelerating a fall sparked by declining expectations of more US monetary easing.
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Source: FIN24
Rand ends weaker on Spanish woes
April 4, 2012--The rand was weaker in late trade on Wednesday as a poor Spanish debt auction added to the euro's woes following an overnight sell-off resulting from hawkish US Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes.
"The bad news in terms of the euro just continues so we could test the $1.3 level sooner rather than later. If we have US March job growth in excess of 250,000, then I believe that support level will crumble," a local rand trader said.
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Source: FIN24
