The Markets | - Part 158

South African Bond Traders Have Bigger Fish to Fry Than Inflation

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African bonds were little moved by faster-than-forecast inflation data on Wednesday, suggesting traders are holding steady before Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s fiscal update next week. The yield on the rand-denominated 10-year government bond was up less than two basis points at 8.76 percent after a report showed annual consumer-price growth accelerated for a second month in September. The move was pale in comparison with Tuesday’s 10 basis-point jump following a surprise…

Nigeria’s SEC to Investigate Oando for Possible Insider Dealing

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission ordered an insider-trading investigation into Oando Plc and suspended dealing in the energy company’s shares. A comprehensive review of Lagos-based Oando also found discrepancies in its shareholding structure and related-party transactions that were not done “at arm’s length,” the regulator said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Alero Balogun, a spokeswoman for Oando, said she couldn’t immediately comment on the allegations when contacted by…

Richemont Signals Worst Is Over for High-End Watch Market

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The worst is over in the high-end Swiss watch market, if a 45 percent gain in profit at luxury-goods maker Richemont is any indication. The surge in first-half earnings came as retail inventories return to normal following Richmond’s repurchase of excess stock last year, the Geneva-based owner of Cartier and Montblanc said Tuesday in an unscheduled announcement. The shares approached a two-year high in Zurich, and their 33 percent year-to-date gain has…

Iron Ore Seen Back in $40s as China Challenges Loom in 2018

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Iron ore may get a reprieve for the remainder of this year before tougher times return in 2018, according to Schroders Plc, which says the raw material may sink back below $50 a metric ton as the effect of credit-led stimulus in China wears off and demand concerns resurface in the top user. “The underlying supply and demand is pretty negative, so over a decent time period we wouldn’t be surprised to…

`Cautious’ BOE Makes Gilt Slide a Buy for Macquarie Investment

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The market’s pricing of two interest-rate hikes in coming months by the Bank of England is “a bit overdone” for Macquarie Investment Management and so it sees the recent fall in gilts as a buying opportunity. Markets are pricing in an 85 percent chance of a 25-basis-point rate increase for the next BOE meeting on Nov. 2, more than double the probability in early August after growing inflationary pressures in the U.K. and…

Bankers Go on a Day Trip to Blockchain’s Magical World

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Blockchain experiments are everywhere in finance these days. Actual blockchain applications that are big enough to have any lasting impact on banking, not so much. Those offenders who talk a lot without doing anything of substance have even been given a name in crypto world. “Too many people are using [blockchain] as a buzzword and are not focused on solving a real problem,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote recently. “We like…

German Investor Optimism Gains as Economy and Stocks Power Ahead

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – German investor confidence rose for a second month as stocks rallied and data signalled that Europe’s largest economy is on track for a solid expansion in the second half of the year. The ZEW Centre for European Economic Research’s index of investor expectations climbed to 17.6 in October from 17 in September. The reading compares with a median estimate in a Bloomberg survey for an increase to 20.0. After a…

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