Middle East & Africa
Monday, 31 December 2012 17:11
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JOHANNESBURG: South African stocks ended the year near record highs on Monday, after a 22 percent surge that marks their best annual return since 2009, lifted by a runaway performance from the booming retailing industry.
Equities in Africa's biggest economy have confounded market watchers this year, as shares largely shrugged off lacklustre economic growth and three months of crippling strikes in the crucial mining sector that sparked credit downgrades.
"It surprised everybody. If you look back at the consensus forecasts, even the optimists were not even close," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management in Cape Town.
"Our market is running ahead and it is already discounting the commodities cycle picking up again, and I still cannot see that with what's happening in Europe.
For that reason, I'm a bit negative on our market in the first half."
The benchmark Top-40 index finished the half day of trade down 0.39 percent ...
CAIRO: Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital said on Sunday its consolidated third-quarter net loss narrowed by 13.4 percent from a year earlier to $22 million.
The firm, which focuses on the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement that it will target sectors such as energy, transportation, agriculture and food industries.
Center>Copyright Reuters, 2012 ...
JOHANNESBURG: South African stocks hit fresh lifetime highs on Wednesday as demand for riskier assets were lifted by expectations of a more aggressive monetary stimulus coming out of Japan and US progress in resolving its "fiscal cliff" budget crisis.
The All-Share index climbed 0.21 percent to 38,963.24, the highest level in the bourse's 17-year history.
The blue-chip index was 0.23 percent higher at 34,541.47.
Copyright Reuters, 2012 ...
JOHANNESBURG: South African stocks booked another record close on Tuesday, rising 0.5 percent as investors piled into mining companies such as Exxaro Resources, which have underperformed this year.
The benchmark Top-40 index finished up 0.55 percent at 34,464.75, its highest finish on record.
The broader All-share index rose 0.53 percent to 38,879.70, also a record finish.
Copyright Reuters, 2012** ...
JOHANNESBURG: South African stocks ended a see-saw session little changed on Friday as investors refrained from making aggressive bets ahead of the long holiday weekend amid lack of progress in the United States to avert a looming fiscal crisis.
Signs of a deepening recession in the euro zone in the form of bleak German manufacturing data also gave players pause for caution after pushing the domestic stock market to three successive record highs this week.
South African markets will ...
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar on Friday, supported by a stronger euro, although a looming African National Congress (ANC) leadership election next week is keeping investors uneasy about holding the rand.
By 0654 GMT the rand was at 8.6460 to the greenback, firmer than Thursday's New York close of 8.6600.
Market analysts expect the rand to remain range bound between 8.60 and 8.70 amid relatively thin pre-Christmas trade.
"For now we're expecting rand to remain ...
JOHANNESBURG: South African stocks booked a record closes on Wednesday, extending their run into a third day, as hopes of further US stimulus boosted riskier assets worldwide.
Mining shares topped the gainers' list on the benchmark JSE Top-40 index as metal prices cruised higher with the price of copper at its strongest level in two months.
The stock market has hit a string record highs this year, largely unmoved by a global economic slowdown, US fiscal problems, ...
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