ThinkDaily 27 January 2023

In Thursday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day up by 1.04% and the Resources 10 sector went down by 0.48%, the Financial 15 went up by 0.66%, the Industrial 25 went up by 1.97%. The rand traded at R17.12 against the Dollar, R21.22 against the Pound, and R18.67 against the Euro. Yesterday, the South African Reserve Bank announced a 25bps increase to the interest rate, resulting in a repo rate of 7.25% and a prime interest rate of 10.75%. The JSE All Share and the JSE Top40 reached new all-time highs in the trading session. 


Graph: JSE Top 40 Historical Price Chart (Source: Infront)

In company-specific news, Truworths released a positive trading update for the 26-week period ended 1 January 2023. Group retail sales increased by 13% to R11.3 billion, Truworths Africa retail sales increased by 13.4% to R8.4 billion and Office sales increased by 12.3% to £140 million. The Group expects headline earnings per share for the period to increase by 8-11% to between 485 and 498 cents.

Globally, luxury conglomerate LVMH recorded record revenues of €79.2 billion and profit from recurring operations of €21.1 billion, both us 23%, for the full 2022 year. Their Fashion & Leather segment reported a revenue increase of 25%, while Watches & Jewellery, and Perfume & Cosmetics reported revenue increases of 18% and 17% respectively, despite a weak China. Sales in Europe, the United States and Japan rose sharply from strong demand and the recovery of international travel.

The US economy grew by 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, revealing a strong and resilient economy, after economists expected an increase of only 2.6%.

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