The rand slipped further today against the US dollar breaking through the R15.00/$ barrier and trading at R15.04/$ when the local inflation numbers were released.
Inflation came out better than expected this morning at 5.9% year-on-year versus the 6% that was expected by economists. The inflation numbers are still higher than in March though, which came in at 5.7% and remains on the upper end of the SA Reserve Bank’s target range, which is between 3%-6%, reports Bloomberg.
“The fact that the inflation number came in lower than expected is rand negative as this could mean that the (SA Reserve Bank) Monetary Policy Committee could have fewer hikes than expected. Load shedding is also playing a part in the rand’s weakness,” comments TreasuryONE.
“We also think the rand has run quite hard very quickly and could consolidate a little lower in the short term.”
The local unit is currently trading at R15.06/$.
On the commodity front, the markets are little changed today except for palladium, which has increased by 3% and is currently trading at $2,450 per ounce. Gold is trading at $1,952 and platinum at $984 per ounce. Brent crude is also trading flat at $107.93 per barrel.
The JSE spent much of the day in the green before turning red in the afternoon session. Earlier the bourse firmed amid mixed global markets with investors digesting the International Monetary Fund’s announcement that it had slashed its economic growth outlook.
By the close of trade on Wednesday the JSE had lost 0.06% with the All Share Index at 73,783 points, while the Top 40 was down 0.15%.
During the afternoon session, Cashbuild’s share price fell by more than 2% after the company reported a revenue decline of 10% in the third quarter of 2022. The business cited fewer consumers focusing on home improvements as people return to working in the office.
The business was also significantly affected by the July riots last year that saw 36 of its stores damaged in the looting.
Cashbuild’s share price clawed back its losses in the afternoon and went on to close 0.18% down.
Technology firm Altron appointed Stewart van Graan as its executive chair and acting CEO on Wednesday. Van Graan has been with the business as an independent non-executive director on its board since 2017 and before that, he served as managing director of Dell South Africa.
Altron added a health 4.68% to its share price.
Alphamin was another top performer on the JSE today, surging 18.06%
On the international front, Netflix tanked as much as 39% at one point following a 200,000 subscriber base loss – the first such a loss in ten years. At the time of writing, Netflix shares had slumped 35% on the Nasdaq.
