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04 Sep 2019

Oil rises as tight US supplies counter trade war pessimism

Sharon Cho and Alex Longley, Bloomberg 

Oil rose as a forecast decline in US crude inventories countered pessimism driven by a surprise contraction in American manufacturing and a warning to China from President Donald Trump.

Futures in New York climbed as much as 2.9% after closing 2.1% lower Tuesday. American stockpiles last week by 3.45 million barrels, which would be a third successive drop, a Bloomberg survey showed before official data due Thursday.

That came after a US factory gauge fell to its weakest level since 2016 and Trump tweeted that it will be tougher for China to secure a trade deal if it waits until after the 2020 US presidential election.

04 Sep 2019

Stocks jump globally with US futures

Adam Haigh, Bloomberg

US and European futures climbed and Hong Kong shares surged after reports the city’s chief executive would withdraw a contentious extradition bill.

Treasury yields ticked higher. Having traded mixed for most of Wednesday on low volumes, gains in Hong Kong helped Asian stocks push higher as the session progressed.

The yen slipped amid the improved investor sentiment. The pound edged higher as the chances of a no-deal Brexit being delayed increased.

Australia’s dollar climbed after growth came in line with estimates, easing fears of a further deterioration in the outlook.

The Institute for Supply Management’s US purchasing managers index fell below 50 in August, indicating a contraction in US manufacturing and joining a slew of weak readings for factories across the globe.

The data caused traders to boost bets on deeper rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.

“We have a global manufacturing slowdown underway and a global capex slowdown underway and we expect further weakness there,” John Herrmann, director of US rates strategy at Mufg Securities Americas, told Bloomberg TV. “These trade negotiations aren’t going to go any way between now and the election” in the US next year, he said.

Investors remain on watch for any news of a schedule for China-US talks. Chinese and American officials are struggling to agree on the next step after Washington rejected Beijing’s request to delay tariffs that took effect over the weekend.

04 Sep 2019

Stronger demand for shop brands boosts food producer Libstar

Sales of private label food products in South Africa continues to outstrip the growth in named brands, says Libstar.

Libstar produces food under store labels for Shoprite, Woolworths, Clicks, Spar and Pick n Pay.

This area of its business accounts for almost half of its revenue. The rest comes from its own brands like Denny and Lancewood cheese, as well as products it produces for Nestlé, Unilever and others.

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04 Sep 2019

Asian stocks, US futures push higher

Adam Haigh, Bloomberg 

US and European futures climbed and Hong Kong shares surged after reports the city’s chief executive would withdraw a contentious extradition bill. Treasury yields ticked higher.

Having traded mixed for most of Wednesday on low volumes, gains in Hong Kong helped Asian stocks push higher as the session progressed. The yen slipped amid the improved investor sentiment.

The pound edged higher as the chances of a no-deal Brexit being delayed increased.

Australia’s dollar climbed after growth came in line with estimates, easing fears of a further deterioration in the outlook.

04 Sep 2019

Momentum Metropolitan reports solid growth, but warns of limits to cost cutting

Thanks in part to steep cost cutting and new business growth, Momentum Metropolitan (previously known as MMI Holdings) has seen a sharp increase in its profitability.

The insurer hiked its diluted normalised headline earnings by 53% to R3.1 billion for the year ended 30 June 2019 thanks to efficiency improvements and lower life insurance claims – but also because the “operating basis changes and investment variances” in the previous year.

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