5 important things you need to know before trading starts today
·1 Mar 2016
Here’s what’s happening in the markets:
- Barclays Africa, which trades as Absa in South Africa, has reported a profit jump on 10% for the full year ended December 2015, up to R14.3 billion. This amid speculation that its parent group, Barclays, is expected to pull out of the Africa business, selling some of its 62.3% stake in the group. Barclays is expected to make the announcement in its earnings report at 9.00am South Africa time.
- Zuma has come out to reassure investors and citizens that he is not at war with finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Media reports over the past week have leaked insider reports that the president was at odds with the minister, and abondoning him in his conflict with South African Revenue Service head, Tom Monyane, and a Hawks investigation into a “rogue unit” at SARS that was established under Gordhan.
- South Africa’s rand firmed against the dollar on Monday after Zuma said he was not at war with Gordhan, falling below the psychological R16.00 mark to R15.75 late on Monday. On Tuesday the currency is trading at R15.87 to the dollar, R22.13 to the pound or R17.28 to the euro.
- In global news, Asian shares rose on Tuesday, boosted by China’s monetary easing and downbeat manufacturing and service surveys that raised hopes of additional measures, although lacklustre US and European data kept alive concerns about global growth momentum. Wall Street ended lower on Monday, falling out of lockstep with oil prices as energy and healthcare shares lost ground.
- Oil companies are beginning to forecast stagnating production for the first time in two years, with US crude companies expecting as much as an 11% decline in production. Oil prices were mixed, with US crude settling at $33.78 a barrel on Tuesday – up significantly from the lowest point of $26.05 in February – while Brent crude was down slightly to $36.55.
In other news: The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has warned of massive job losses in the mining industry, claiming that as many as 100,000 people could lose their jobs after global mining group, Anglo American, dumps some of its assets in the country.
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