Escaping Brexit Pushes South Africa Stock Buying to 7-Year High

SOUTH AFRICA, Capital Markets in Africa: As markets tumbled after last week’s Brexit vote, foreigners bought South African shares at the fastest pace in more than seven years, seeking havens in gold producers and dollar-earners.

Investors bought a net 4.22 billion rand ($272 million) of the country’s stocks Friday after the U.K. referendum result was known, bringing inflows for the week to 14.5 billion rand, the most since March 2009, according to Johannesburg Stock Exchange data. The flows came even as the country’s benchmark stock index fell and the rand weakened against the dollar.

A surge in the price of bullion attracted investors to the country’s gold miners, including Harmony Gold Mining Co. and Sibanye Gold Ltd. Investors also bought stock in SABMiller Plc and British American Tobacco Plc, companies that benefit from pound weakness by earning dollars and reporting in sterling, the data show. Naspers Ltd., which owns a third of China’s largest internet company, Tencent Holdings Limited, and reports in dollars, was the second-most popular stock among foreigners.

The valuations are attractive “when you consider that for international companies, revenues may be dollar-denominated and that the actual economic impact of Brexit on South Africa may be small,” William Jackson, senior emerging-markets economist at Capital Economics Ltd., said in e-mailed comments from London.

Winning Streak
As the rand plunged as much as 8 percent against the dollar on Friday and the benchmark index tumbled by the most since May 2010, foreign investors were net purchasers of South African stocks for a 16th day, the longest winning streak since October 2010. Sibanye Gold and Harmony Gold rose 13 percent as British voters stunned the world and triggered turmoil in markets by voting to leave the EU. The gold index surged 11 percent, partly as investors sought a store of value.

The purchases continued Monday, with foreigners net buyers of 2.39 billion rand of South African stocks.

While the referendum decision could have an immediate impact on more vulnerable emerging-market economies, it could ultimately support riskier assets as central banks in developed nations relax monetary policy, said Jeffrey Schultz, an economist at BNP Paribas Securities in Johannesburg.

After record net outflows of 30 billion rand in the first five months of the year, investment into South Africa has seen a turnaround, Schultz wrote in a note Monday. Foreigners invested a net 65 billion rand in their South African portfolios in June, “two-thirds of which has come from a resurgence of foreign appetite for domestic equities,” he said.

Source: Bloomberg Business News