Think Daily 12 October 2021

In Monday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day up by 1.4%. The Resources 10 sector went up by 2.81%, the Financial 15 went up by 0.25%, the Industrial 25 went up by 0.69% and lastly the South African Listed Property index up by 0.32%. The Rand traded at R15.04 against the United States Dollar, R20.46 against the Great British pound, and R17.38 against the Euro. The local markets had a positive day mainly thanks to the Resources sector climbing by 2.81%. The Iron Ore spot price climbed after a 49% first-quarter drop. According to reports, more than 80% of China’s domestic steel mills have suspended operations for maintenance in September. 


Figure 1: Kumba Iron Ore one week chart

On the commodities front, the Brent Crude oil is trading at $83.54 a barrel and WTI Crude oil is traded at $80.28 a barrel. Gold Spot price is currently trading at $1761.23; Platinum Spot is now trading at $1014.46 and lastly, Palladium Spot price is at $2108.48. Brent crude oil climbing to more than $84.0 a barrel on Monday, the highest since October 2018 and following five weeks of gains, with expectations of a near-term uptrend remain intact. And WTI crude traded above $80 a barrel on Tuesday after hitting above $81 a barrel for the first time since October 2014.
Across the globe, the S&P 500 closed the day down 0.29%, Dow Jones closed down 0.34% and the Nasdaq had a 0.13% dip. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.72% and the DAX was down 0.05% and CAC40 was up 0.16%. In the Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 is down 0.94% and the Hang Seng is currently down 1.79%. Elsewhere, Bitcoin is shy of $60’000 following a strong rally