In Wednesday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day down by 1.28%. The Resources 10 sector went down by 1.56%, the Financial 15 went down by 0.19%, the Industrial 25 went down by 1.65% and lastly, the South African Listed Property index went down by 1.32%. The rand traded at R15.74 against the United State Dollar, R19.66 against the Great British pound, and R16.60 against the Euro. In yesterday’s trading session, local markets showed a sell-off with all of the sectors closing in the red, once more. Massmart had a huge 6.88% drop in the share price and is trading at the company’s lowest level since January 2021. As of earlier this morning, Gold Fields and Sibanye Stillwaters reported an operating update for the quarter which ended on the 31st of March 2022. Metair Investments released a voluntary update with regards to the impact of the flooding in Kwa Zulu Natal. Lastly, Textainer and AB Inbev reported the respective companies' first-quarter results for 2022.
Figure 1: Massmart’s 2-year chart
On the commodities front, the Brent Crude oil is trading at $110.40 a barrel and WTI Crude oil is traded at $107.42 a barrel. Gold Spot price is currently trading at $1896.92. Platinum Spot is now trading at $1000 and lastly, Palladium Spot price is at $2273.89. As for oil, the EU proposed an embargo on Russian crude in six months and refined products by the end of 2022. The proposal also included a ban on all shipping, brokerage, insurance and financing services offered by EU companies for the transportation of Russian oil in a month. Furthermore, There is an OPEC+ meeting later today, where it is expected to stick to plans for a gradual ramp-up of monthly production.
Across the globe, the S&P 500 closed the day up 2.99%, Dow Jones closed up 2.81% and the Nasdaq had a 3.41% climb. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.22% and the DAX was up 0.72% and CAC40 was up 0.79%. In the Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 is on holiday and the Hang Seng is up 0.48% currently. In the United States, The Fed raised interest rates by a widely expected half-percentage point and Powell said similar moves were on the table for June and July. He also pushed back against a larger 75 basis point rate increase, causing the dollar and Treasury yields to ease from recent highs and driving haven demand for bullion. Etsy and eBay reported lighter-than-expected revenue guidance for the second quarter. Companies slated to report earnings today include Shopify, ConocoPhillips, Baidu and Block, among others.
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