Think Daily 02 December 2021

In Wednesday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day up by 1.13%. The Resources 10 sector went up by 0.9%, the Financial 15 went up by 2.13%, the Industrial 25 went up by 0.94% and lastly the South African Listed Property index down by 0.75%. The Rand traded at R15.97 against the United State Dollar, R21.25 against the Great British pound, and R18.08 against the Euro. In the local markets, the rand pulled back from its lowest point in one year. Royal Bafokeng Platinum continues to reach new all-time highs as bids for the company persisted.


Figure 1: Royal Bafokeng Platinum year to date chart


On the commodities front, the Brent Crude oil is trading at $69.89 a barrel and WTI Crude oil is traded at $66.51 a barrel. Gold Spot price is currently trading at $1775.90, Platinum Spot is now trading at $944.50 and lastly, Palladium Spot price is at $1751.10. The oil price has declined following the discovery of the new COVID 19 variant. OPEC and its allies are set to decide tomorrow whether to release more oil into the market as previously planned or to restrain supply, after major consumers, such as the United States, released emergency reserves. 
Across the globe, the S&P 500 closed the day up 1.25%, Dow Jones closed up 0.82% and the Nasdaq had a 0.94% climb. The FTSE 100 closed up 1.55% and the DAX was up 2.47% and CAC40 was up 2.39%. In the Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 is down 0.65% and the Hang Seng is currently up 0.2%. U.S. stocks market moves are to likely remain driven by Omicron variant headlines until a clear assessment of its impact can be made, as well as by expectations of faster tapering and earlier rate hikes.