Market Watch |

Technical Signals Flash Glimmer of Hope for South Africa’s Rand

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s rand headed for an advance Thursday for the first time this week after data showed the country’s current-account deficit — a major vulnerability amid the emerging-market sell-off — narrowing from a two-year high. But it’s not only the slight improvement in economic fundamentals and global risk appetite that’s supporting a rand rebound. Technical indicators suggest South Africa’s currency is due for a correction after slumping to a two-year low this week….

MTN Ghana’s IPO Set to `Lift the Gloom’ From Accra Stock Market

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Accra’s share market is poised for a massive boost in liquidity Wednesday when shares start trading in MTN Group Ltd.’s local unit. While MTN sold only about a third of the shares available in the initial public offering, the 1.1 billion cedis ($238 million) raised is still more than three times larger than the next biggest Ghana IPO. The sale attracted thousands of individual investors and vastly increases the…

Half of Emerging-Market Bond Index Faces Election Risk in 2018

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Investors set to bag the best returns in five years from emerging-market bonds this year should brace themselves for 2018. Political risk looms large. Countries that make up more than 50 percent of a Bloomberg Barclays developing-nation local bond index are gearing up for elections in the next 12 months. While the outcomes of votes in countries like Russia are predictable, tight contests in heavyweights like Brazil and Mexico have potential to…

Bitcoin’s White-Knuckle Ride Continues as It Hurtles Past $8,000

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin’s relentless and volatile rally shows no sign of abating, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency defying growing bubble fears to hit yet another milestone. Bitcoin rose as much as 6.7 percent to a record $8,224 as of 9:27 a.m. in New York. It’s been a tumultuous year for the virtual currency, with three separate slumps of more than 25 percent all giving way to subsequent rallies. “The inflation in…

Investec First-Half Profit Climbs 21% as Funds Increase

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JOHANNESBURG Capital Markets in Africa) – Investec Plc, which owns a lender and money manager in South Africa and the U.K., said fiscal first-half profit rose 21 percent as funds under management increased, equity markets rose and the banking business increased lending. Net income climbed to 252.4 million pounds ($332 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30 from 208.6 million pounds a year earlier, the London- and Johannesburg-based lender said in a statement on Thursday. The dividend…

Bitcoin dives below $7,000

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin has been on a wild ride since a plan to help the red-hot coin scale was scraped. Backers of the so-called Segwit2x proposal were considering to split from bitcoin’s main blockchain network, but power-brokers behind the plan called off their support for the upgrade on Wednesday. That mean’s the network will remain intact — at least for now. Initially, the news sent bitcoin up near $7,900 per coin. Since then, however, it has tanked close to…

Mondi Falls as Rising Costs, Currency Moves Weigh on Earnings

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mondi Limited shares slumped the most in more than a year after South Africa’s biggest packaging maker said rising costs and unfavourable currency moves would see full-year earnings come in below expectations. The stock plunged as much as 7 percent in early trade in Johannesburg and London, the most intraday since June 2016. The cost of wood, energy and chemicals increased in the three months through September, while the weaker…

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