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Cape Town - SA shares reached another record during last week as international investors continued to be net buyers of local shares.
Local investors and asset managers stepped up purchases of whatever companies would benefit from the weaker currency.
Most analysts have by now accepted that the rand is not going back to the levels of around R8 to the dollar only a few weeks ago.
But at the end of the week the market retreated from its high levels and the benchmark JSE Top-40 index ended the week nearly half a percent lower.
Overall, international markets were influenced by the announcement by the US Federal Reserve that it sees fewer reasons to continue to stimulate the economy as aggressively as it has been doing since the disastrous credit crisis hit the world in 2008.
Locally, the feature in the market was the quarterly close-out of futures contracts, followed by a normal subdued Friday.
Amongst shares that attracted attention were Gold Fields [JSE: GFI]. This was after the announcement by US authorities that they launched an investigation to determine if Gold Fields breached US anti-corruption laws when the company entered into a black empowerment deal in 2010.
Positive news of a small increase in retail sales was tempered by higher inflation figures and another increase in unemployment.
The week ahead
SA markets are bound to start this week at a leisurely pace following last week's entertainment.
Monday will probably be a quiet day as local markets will be closed on Tuesday for people to celebrate Heritage Day or have barbeque.
Many market participants might be away from their screens for the whole week due to a week-long school holiday in most provinces.
Wednesday morning could see some exciting movements in share prices when the JSE adjusts to movements on international markets.
Shares to watch are all those listed on international bourses, especially mining and commodity shares.
These will not only adjust to whatever changes happen in their share prices in two trading session around the globe, but their income streams are sensitive to changes in the exchange rate.
Gold Fields will remain on the watch lists, either because investors believe the share price has over reacted on news of the US investigation or because they are seeing more downside.
Naspers [JSE:NPN] will be cheered on to breach R1 000 per share "just because it's there" - with apologies to Sir Edmund Hillary and climbers in general.
Retailers and other consumer shares should be watched carefully in the next few months after the most recent comments by Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus about a change in sentiment about inflation concerns amongst members of her Monetary Policy Committee.
These shares historically react to expected changes in interest rates a few months before the actual change.
Announcements to watch include the Reserve Bank's business cycle indicator and StatsSA's release of production price data.
- Fin24
Local investors and asset managers stepped up purchases of whatever companies would benefit from the weaker currency.
Most analysts have by now accepted that the rand is not going back to the levels of around R8 to the dollar only a few weeks ago.
But at the end of the week the market retreated from its high levels and the benchmark JSE Top-40 index ended the week nearly half a percent lower.
Overall, international markets were influenced by the announcement by the US Federal Reserve that it sees fewer reasons to continue to stimulate the economy as aggressively as it has been doing since the disastrous credit crisis hit the world in 2008.
Locally, the feature in the market was the quarterly close-out of futures contracts, followed by a normal subdued Friday.
Amongst shares that attracted attention were Gold Fields [JSE: GFI]. This was after the announcement by US authorities that they launched an investigation to determine if Gold Fields breached US anti-corruption laws when the company entered into a black empowerment deal in 2010.
Positive news of a small increase in retail sales was tempered by higher inflation figures and another increase in unemployment.
The week ahead
SA markets are bound to start this week at a leisurely pace following last week's entertainment.
Monday will probably be a quiet day as local markets will be closed on Tuesday for people to celebrate Heritage Day or have barbeque.
Many market participants might be away from their screens for the whole week due to a week-long school holiday in most provinces.
Wednesday morning could see some exciting movements in share prices when the JSE adjusts to movements on international markets.
Shares to watch are all those listed on international bourses, especially mining and commodity shares.
These will not only adjust to whatever changes happen in their share prices in two trading session around the globe, but their income streams are sensitive to changes in the exchange rate.
Gold Fields will remain on the watch lists, either because investors believe the share price has over reacted on news of the US investigation or because they are seeing more downside.
Naspers [JSE:NPN] will be cheered on to breach R1 000 per share "just because it's there" - with apologies to Sir Edmund Hillary and climbers in general.
Retailers and other consumer shares should be watched carefully in the next few months after the most recent comments by Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus about a change in sentiment about inflation concerns amongst members of her Monetary Policy Committee.
These shares historically react to expected changes in interest rates a few months before the actual change.
Announcements to watch include the Reserve Bank's business cycle indicator and StatsSA's release of production price data.
- Fin24
