South Africa’s equity market tops Bank of America’s Global Research\u2019s latest EEMEA Equity Strategist report, despite the worst month for markets in close to 20 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran and the targeting of oil infrastructure by the Persian nation, the JSE’s all shares recorded their worst month since the global financial crisis in 2008 in March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The JSE all-share index lost R3 trillion in value in March as investment managers worldwide adopted a risk-off stance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, Bank of America placed South Africa’s equity market ahead of its Eastern Europe, Middle Eastern and African counterparts in its latest Equity Strategist report for April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many countries in the Middle East are affected by the ongoing war, South Africa’s ranking at the top is not new, as it was at the top in March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bank of America is one of the most important banks globally, as it is the second-largest banking institution in the United States and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bank’s rankings are based on several quantitative inputs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bank of America said that the continued strengthening in dividends and supportive valuations vs History have widened South Africa’s lead against its competitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means that South Africa’s equity market is ahead of Hungary, T\u00fcrkiye, Greece, the UAE, Qatar, Poland, and Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bank of America, however, said that South Africa’s position on financial flows was improving prior to the onset of the crisis in late February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to the top 20 stocks ranked by 6 screening factors, South Africa is the dominant player, with 12 South African names on the list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The top three names for Bank of America’s analysis are Northam Platinum, Sibanye Stillwater and Ninety One. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other South African stocks in the top 20 include Momentum, Investec, AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony, Telkom, Santam, Sasol, Gold Fields and Implats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bank of America noted that the screen is also now more focused on materials, which has equal representation as financials, with seven in each. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While South Africa dominates the top 20, it also has six companies in the bottom 20 in the bank’s analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This includes major players such as Capitec, Shoprite, Clicks, Bidvest, Bid Corp, and Kumba Iron Ore, all of which have weighted-average ranks below 40. <\/p>\n\n\n\nCountry<\/strong><\/td> Current Valuations (10%)<\/strong><\/td> Valuations vs History (10%)<\/strong><\/td> Earnings Growth (20%)<\/strong><\/td> Price\/EPS Momentum (20%)<\/strong><\/td> Dividends (20%)<\/strong><\/td> GEM Funds Positioning (20%)<\/strong><\/td> Weighted Average of Ranks<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> 10<\/td> 60<\/td> 100<\/td> 100<\/td> 80<\/td> 100<\/td> 83<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Hungary<\/strong><\/td> 90<\/td> 90<\/td> 70<\/td> 70<\/td> 10<\/td> 90<\/td> 66<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> T\u00fcrkiye<\/strong><\/td> 100<\/td> 70<\/td> 50<\/td> 40<\/td> 50<\/td> 60<\/td> 57<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Greece<\/strong><\/td> 80<\/td> 40<\/td> 50<\/td> 10<\/td> 90<\/td> 70<\/td> 56<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> UAE<\/strong><\/td> 70<\/td> 100<\/td> 30<\/td> 50<\/td> 60<\/td> 40<\/td> 53<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Egypt<\/strong><\/td> 40<\/td> 40<\/td> 40<\/td> 10<\/td> 90<\/td> 80<\/td> 52<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Poland<\/strong><\/td> 60<\/td> 10<\/td> 70<\/td> 90<\/td> 20<\/td> 30<\/td> 49<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Czechia<\/strong><\/td> 30<\/td> 0<\/td> 70<\/td> 0<\/td> 30<\/td> 50<\/td> 33<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Qatar<\/strong><\/td> 50<\/td> 80<\/td> 10<\/td> 10<\/td> 70<\/td> 10<\/td> 33<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Saudi Arabia<\/strong><\/td> 0<\/td> 20<\/td> 20<\/td> 70<\/td> 40<\/td> 0<\/td> 28<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Kuwait<\/strong><\/td> 20<\/td> 30<\/td> 0<\/td> 50<\/td> 0<\/td> 20<\/td> 19<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div> South African stocks dominate the top 20<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Top Stocks<\/strong><\/td> Country<\/strong><\/td> Sector<\/strong><\/td> Rating<\/strong><\/td> Weighted Average of Ranks<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> Northam Platinum<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Neutral<\/strong><\/td> 80.5<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Sibanye Stillwater<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Neutral<\/strong><\/td> 75.6<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Ninety One Ltd<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Financials<\/strong><\/td> Buy<\/strong><\/td> 74.4<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Momentum Group<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Financials<\/strong><\/td> Neutral<\/strong><\/td> 72.4<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Saudi Electricity<\/td> Saudi Arabia<\/td> Utilities<\/td> Not covered<\/td> 71.4<\/td><\/tr> Zain Group<\/td> Kuwait<\/td> Comm. Svcs.<\/td> Not covered<\/td> 70.1<\/td><\/tr> Turk Telekom<\/td> T\u00fcrkiye<\/td> Comm. Svcs.<\/td> Underperform<\/td> 69.8<\/td><\/tr> Investec<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Financials<\/strong><\/td> Buy<\/strong><\/td> 68.8<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> AngloGold Ashanti<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Not covered<\/strong><\/td> 68.6<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Harmony<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Neutral<\/strong><\/td> 68.6<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Vakif Bank<\/td> T\u00fcrkiye<\/td> Financials<\/td> Underperform<\/td> 67.1<\/td><\/tr> Tupras<\/td> T\u00fcrkiye<\/td> Energy<\/td> Neutral<\/td> 67.0<\/td><\/tr> Gold Fields<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Buy<\/strong><\/td> 66.4<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Isbank<\/td> T\u00fcrkiye<\/td> Financials<\/td> Buy<\/td> 66.0<\/td><\/tr> Telkom SA<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Comm. Svcs.<\/strong><\/td> Underperform<\/strong><\/td> 64.0<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Santam<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Financials<\/strong><\/td> Neutral<\/strong><\/td> 63.9<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> PKN Orlen<\/td> Poland<\/td> Energy<\/td> Not covered<\/td> 63.7<\/td><\/tr> Implats<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Buy<\/strong><\/td> 62.9<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Saudi National<\/td> Saudi Arabia<\/td> Financials<\/td> Buy<\/td> 62.3<\/td><\/tr> Sasol Limited<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> Materials<\/strong><\/td> Neutral<\/strong><\/td> 56.0<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div> Bottom Stocks<\/strong><\/td> Country<\/strong><\/td> Sector<\/strong><\/td> Weighted Average of Ranks<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> Dar Al Arkan<\/td> Saudi Arabia<\/td> Real Estate<\/td> 26.4<\/td><\/tr> Dino Poland<\/td> Poland<\/td> Cons. S.<\/td> 27.0<\/td><\/tr> Budimex<\/td> Poland<\/td> Industrials<\/td> 27.1<\/td><\/tr> National Bank Of Kuwait<\/td> Kuwait<\/td> Financials<\/td> 29.7<\/td><\/tr> Clicks<\/strong><\/td> South Africa<\/strong><\/td>