In Monday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day down by 2.40%. The Resources 10 sector went down by 2.42%, the Financial 15 went up by 1.91%, the Industrial 25 went down up 2.43% and lastly the South African Listed Property index down by 1.94%. The Rand traded at R14.73 against the United State Dollar, R20.14 against the Great British pound, and R17.29 against the Euro. SA stocks dipped as spreading contagion from troubled China Evergrande Group likely default increased. Rand slumped amid dollar strength and decrease in commodity prices. In the corporate space, news of Rand Merchant Investment unbundling Discovery and Momentum Metropolitan pushed the share price to jump 14% to R35.26.
Figure 1: Anglo America Plc 5 day share price
On the commodities front, the Brent Crude oil is trading at $74.56 a barrel and WTI Crude oil traded at $70.86 a barrel. Gold Spot price is currently trading at $1765.47, Platinum Spot is now trading at $914.77 and lastly, Palladium Spot price is at $1890.12. Gold prices inched lower in early Asian trade as the market awaits clearer signals from the Federal Reserve on tapering and China Evergrande Group’s ongoing debt crisis. Oil rose in early Asian trade as analysts indicated to signs of US supply tightness.
Across the globe, the S&P 500 closed the day down 1.70%, Dow Jones closed down 1.78% and the Nasdaq had a 2.10% up. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.86% and the DAX was down 2.31% and CAC40 was down 1.74%. In the Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 is up 0.58% and the Hang Seng is currently up 3.69%. FTSE 100 ended low dragged down by miners and banking stocks and concerns of rising inflation. US stocks dipped over contagion fears in China’s property market. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng hit a fresh 11-month low as the weakness in tech shares offset the rebound in property stocks. In the corporate space, Royal Dutch Shell will sell its Permian Basin assets to ConocoPhillips for $9.5 bln in cash.
Things to look for today: US Current Account (Q2) at 14.30 pm.
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