Bulls n Bears Daily Market Commentary : 01 February 2018

Thu Feb 1 18:05:08 CAT 2018

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Bulls n Bears Daily Market Commentary : 01 February 2018

 <http://www.firstmutualproperties.co.zw/> 

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Update

Market Turnover $2,141,971.99 with foreign buys at $1,383,250.64 and foreign
sales were $281,694.12. Total trades were 70.

The All Share Index added 0.07 points  to close at 91.39 points. OLD MUTUAL
gained $0.0520 to close at $5.2537, SIMBISA put on $0.0058 to $0.4033 while
INNSCOR was up by $0.0032 to close at $0.8057. DAIRIBOARD  rose by $0.0005
to $0.1110 while AXIA  inched up by $0.0003 to settle at $0.1803.  

PPC was the only lame duck shedding $0.0500 to close at $0.8500.
Heavyweights CAFCA , DELTA and ECONET traded unchanged at $0.3500, $1.6600
and  $0.7000 respectively.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Global Currencies & Equity Markets

Zimbabwe

Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa Speaks on Bitcoin, Calls It Utopian

During the World Economic Forum in #Davos, the Minister of Finance and
Economic Planning Patrick Chinamasa was asked if he’d buy Bitcoin at all.
Well, his response was quite
 interesting.

So, his response to the question “would you buy Bitcoin?” was:

No, no, no that is out of the question. That is still very much of an
academic issue. let’s always situate ourselves in our own reality and our
own reality is as we speak we don’t even have our own currency. Now to talk
about cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin which as you know has not even received the
blessing of the IMF.

And as you know cryptocurrency, Bitcoin are something in the terrestrial
realm and not something that you can touch. So I think it’s still out of the
way for us at the moment. Let’s focus and see how we can get to the position
when we have our own currency and we have already again and again spelt
between ourselves and The Reserve Bank that we must address of a
macroeconomic fundamentals.

We must build Reserves, we must address the issue of the fiscal deficit, we
must address the issue of the trade deficit, we must also address the issue
of the current account deficit. We need more investments. We must address
the issue of production and so on. When all those are done and and we are
comfortable that there is trust and confidence in the growth of the economy,
then we can start talking about our own local currency and I would not want
to be distracted by talking about very as of now for us in Zimbabwe utopian
discussions on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Well, there’s a lot to take home from what he said but generally, what I get
from the response is a “forget about Bitcoin we have more pressing matters
at hand”.

The problem with such a stance is it shuns away the possibility of the
government even considering this as a solution. Maybe the word solution
there is a bit too ambitious, but I’m personally convinced that Bitcoin has
the potential to alleviate us from these harsh conditions presented by the
economic crisis we’re in.

No doubt that we have a cash crisis; a serious shortage of both the valuable
forex as well as our not-so-valuable bond notes
.but guess what? This is
where Bitcoin (or cryptos in general) come in.

>From the top of my head, here are some of the ways in which Bitcoin has
helped so far in Zimbabwe. The use of Bitcoin has enabled people to have
access to more affordable remittance services such as Bitmari and Study263.
Also, Bitcoin has made the hustle of making international payments slightly
easier.

So to say cryptos are far-fetched in Zimbabwe is actually far-fetched.
Bitcoin can be or rather is relevant in Zimbabwe, we just need to figure out
how to best leverage it while we build our economy and secure our own
currency. I don’t dispute that cryptos may (key word: may) be a bubble, but
the thing is we cannot totally stay away without even considering them.
Disruptive technology is like that, it never ‘feels’ a 100% safe. So if
we’re to move with it as the government has professed to do in future, then
we need to be ready to look into innovations as they come, otherwise we’ll
miss out on more than we can imagine.

Nonetheless, in essence, instead of just waiting for “IMF to approve”, we
need to do a thorough research of our own. After all, unlike most countries
in the IMF, we have much more pressing matters than they and therefore can’t
afford to slack on the issue.--techzim

AFRICA-FX-Zambian currency seen firm, Tanzania's bearish

(Reuters) - Zambia’s kwacha is likely to gain next week after encouraging
economic news. Tanzania’s shilling is expected to come under pressure.

ZAMBIA

The kwacha is expected to strengthen on higher copper prices, stable
inflation and positive sentiment after ratings agency Moody’s upgraded its
outlook to stable from negative.

At 0945 GMT, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa’s second-largest
copper producer at 9.7427 per dollar from 9.7000 a week ago.

TANZANIA

The Tanzanian shilling is seen under pressure against the U.S. dollar in the
coming days, underpinned by demand for dollars from the oil sector and other
importers.

Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,249/2,254 to the dollar on
Thursday, slightly weaker than 2,248/2,253 a week ago.

KENYA

The Kenyan shilling is seen stable in the coming week as sales of government
debt and stock market activity offset routine demand from oil importers,
traders said.

Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 101.80/102.00 per dollar, compared
with 102.35/45 at last Thursday’s close.

UGANDA

The Ugandan shilling is forecast to trade in a stable range in the coming
days as weak importer demand meets with inflows from exporters of
commodities like coffee and cocoa.

At 0915 GMT commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,620/3,630, stronger
than last Thursday’s close of 3,633/3,643.

GHANA

Ghana’s cedi is expected to remain steady as offshore investor interest is
balanced by dollar demand from local firms to settle import bills. The cedi
was trading at 4.49 to the dollar at 1033 GMT on Thursday, stronger than
last week’s 4.54 close.

NIGERIA

The naira is likely to remain stable against the dollar next week as demand
weakens whenever the unit trades below 360 per dollar, traders said.

Traders said most forex users are not willing to source dollars weaker than
360 at the investors window and that offshore investors have been buying
local debt in search of yields, boosting liquidity on the currency market.

On the official market, the naira was quoted at 305.70, supported by the
central bank’s regular intervention. 

South Korea 

Cryptos Mixed up in $600 Million Illegal Forex Trade

The South Korea government is investigating the use of cryptocurrency in
illegal foreign currency exchange, according to a statement.

Released on Jan. 31 by the Korea Customs Service (KCS), the statement
alleges that a total of 637.5 billion won worth (or around $600 million) in
foreign currencies have been exchanged illegally, including unrecorded
capital outflow using cryptocurrencies.

The investigation is part of a broader effort across South Korean
authorities to examine cryptocurrency-related activities. It also comes just
days after the country's financial watchdog formally banned anonymous
cryptocurrency trading accounts, which took effect on Jan. 30.

While the KCS did not give any name of entities that were accused of illegal
currency exchange using cryptos, it outlined methods that are commonly
adopted based on its investigation.

In one case, which also accounts for majority of the alleged amount, the KCS
said unregistered currency exchanges remitted 472.3 billion Korean won
($443,962,000) for customers between South Korea and Australia from March to
December last year – transactions facilitated by cryptocurrencies.

While the KCS did not disclose whether it is taking any legal actions
currently against these businesses, it said it will continue the effort in
investigating on similar activities as well as illicit use of cryptocurrency
in money laundering and smuggling illegal goods such as drugs.

Commodities Markets

Gold prices slip, investors await U.S. jobs data for guidance

(Reuters) - Gold edged lower on Thursday as investors shifted their focus to
U.S. jobs data due at the end of the week for guidance on monetary policy
for the rest of the year.

Spot gold        was down 0.3 percent at $1,340.20 per ounce, as of 1302
GMT. It touched $1,332.30 an ounce in the previous session, its lowest since
Jan. 23.

U.S. gold futures         for February delivery were nearly flat at
$1,342.70 per ounce.

The U.S. Fed held interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but raised its
inflation outlook and flagged "further gradual" rate increases.             

Gold gained just 3.2 percent in January as the dollar fell to three-year
lows against a basket of major currencies. It hita 17-month peak of
$1,366.07 on Jan. 25.       

The dollar index inched lower after the Fed signalled its confidence about
inflation and growth in the U.S. economy, reinforcing views it will raise
rates several times this year.

Inflation worries generally boost gold, which is seen as a safe-haven
against rising prices. But expectations that the Fed will raise interest
rates to fight inflation make gold less

attractive because it does not pay interest.

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, New
York-listed SPDR Gold Shares      , fell another 4.1 tonnes on Wednesday,
data from the fund shows, cutting its inflow for January to just 3.9 tonnes.

In other precious metals, silver  slipped 0.4 percent to $17.25 per ounce
and platinum        fell 1 percent to $990.25 per ounce.

Palladium        was 0.6 percent lower at $1,021.72 per ounce after touching
$1,013.72 earlier in the session, its lowest since Dec. 18. The metal is
down about 3.5 percent so far

this year.

Sunstone Dev Partners Yunnan Aluminium for JV Worth 720 Mln Yuan

(Reuters) - Sunstone Development Co Ltd:

* SAYS IT SIGNS AGREEMENT TO SET UP JV WORTH 720 MILLION YUAN ($114.42
million) WITH YUNNAN ALUMINIUM CO LTD Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2ntkbca
Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.2925 Chinese yuan renminbi)

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Robert Mugabe National Youth Day

21 Feb 2018

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
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been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
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whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
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investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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