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May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 28 2012 07:53
The City of Cape Town has spent R175m running the Myciti bus service since the Soccer World Cup compared to an income of R35m, a report says.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
London - Global stock markets recovered on Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains a day after sharp losses caused by heightened concerns for the US economy and in particular its auto and banking sectors.
In morning European trade, London rallied 2.23%, Paris won back 1.22% and Frankfurt climbed 1.03%.
However there was still a long to go before they recouped all their losses seen on Monday, when Frankfurt ended more than 5% lower.
"Today's session is about short-term bargain hunting on the back of stronger than expected company earnings," City Index market strategist Joshua Raymond, said regarding the situation in London.
"The market remains incredibly sensitive to economic data and company results, and consequently these violent swings are likely to remain for sometime."
In London, the share price of Marks and Spencer shot up 11% as the British clothing-to-food retailer reported better than expected sales data.
Barclays bank jumped 4% after announcing late on Monday that it would not take part in a government insurance scheme for risky assets that could have led to the lender's partial nationalisation.
The group added in a bullish statement that it has enjoyed a "strong" trading performance so far this year despite the ongoing credit crunch and a deep recession in Britain.
In Asia, Hong Kong share prices closed up 0.89% on Tuesday as investors looked for bargains following a steep decline the previous session, dealers said. Seoul won 0.74 % and Shanghai gained 0.64%.
Tokyo closed down 1.54% but losses were far less severe compared to Monday when the Japanese market had plunged 4.53%.
"The (overall) market needed to take a breather for a while amid lingering uncertainties over economic fundamentals. But there also seems to be appetite for bargain hunting," Lee Woo-hyun of KTB Securities told Dow Jones Newswires.
Wall Street shares plunged on Monday after the US government warned that American car makers General Motors and Chrysler could face bankruptcy and banks could need more aid, stoking fears about the US economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 3.27%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 2.81% and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 3.48%.
- AFP