The Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South African stocks have made their best start to the year since 2012, even after last week’s pullback, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America are among those predicting further gains. A global appetite for riskier assets has propelled emerging market inflows and the Johannesburg exchange is set to benefit from its heavy weighting in mining stocks as China’s economy emerges from the pandemic. Add to this…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — In financial markets filled to the brim with froth, one of the more speculative corners is showing signs of bubbling yet again. Bitcoin rebounded from its sharp sell-off last week which saw prices plunge more than 12%, the steepest weekly drop since last March. The digital asset bounced back from below $30,000 Friday to trade around $34,400 as of 10:22 a.m. Monday in New York. “It’s a little bit…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s main stocks index declined 1% by 9:53 a.m. in Johannesburg, the biggest intraday decline in 2021, after a slump in Tencent Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong pulled benchmark giant Naspers Ltd. and its subsidiary, Prosus NV, lower. Tencent lost as much as 6.7% in Hong Kong on Tuesday, as traders took profit after Monday’s 11% surge, which was Tencent’s biggest in almost a decade. Investors were also…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s equity rally is yet to catch the attention of foreign investors wounded by failed attempts to repatriate gains made on earlier investments. The stock market rose 50% last year driven by pension funds avoiding negative real yields in fixed-income debts after they were locked out of buying high-yielding central bank papers. Offshore investors largely stayed out of the market after the central bank failed to supply enough dollars…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — U.S. approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund could weigh on the digital coin’s price in the short term, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That’s because competition from such a vehicle could spark outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the world’s largest traded cryptocurrency fund. The ETF would erode the Grayscale trust’s effective monopoly, sparking outflows and a slide in its premium to net asset value — which in turn…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s main stocks index edged lower, retreating from Friday’s record close and set to fall for the first day in six. Mining stocks were among those dragging most on the market, giving up more of their recent rally. An index of mining stocks, up 12% already this year, retreated for a second session as diversified giant Anglo American Plc dropped 0.9% and BHP Group Plc fell 0.5%. A…