Bulls n Bears Daily Market Commentary : 23 February 2018

Fri Feb 23 17:44:30 CAT 2018

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Bulls n Bears Daily Market Commentary : 23 February 2018

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Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Update

Market Turnover $784,724.72 with foreign buys at $255,922.94 and foreign
sales were $18,856.93. Total trades were 83.

The All Share index came down a further 0.22 points   to settle at 88.29.
Insurance giant OLD MUTUAL  shed $0.1000 to close at $5.2000, ECONET eased
$0.0073 to $0.6902 while MASIMBA closed at $0.0562 following a $0.0038 loss.
BINDURA decreased by $0.0026 to $0.0374, BARCLAYS shifted down by $0.0010 to
end at $0.0430 whilst OK ZIMBABWE  was $0.0004 weaker at $0.1646.

Only two counters gained ground as  AFDIS added $0.0300 to trade at $1.4800
and INNSCOR was up by $0.0075 to close at $0.9225.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Global Currencies & Equity Markets

Mozambique

Mozambique dollar bonds jump after govt says will present debt plan

(Reuters) - Mozambique’s dollar-denominated bonds jumped 1.52 cents at the
opening on Friday after the government announced it would present its debt
restructuring plans to creditors on March 20 in London.

The 2023 bond rose to 87.02 cents, matching the previous day’s near-four
week high. 

Uganda

Ugandan shilling stable, to weaken due to manufacturing sector demand

(Reuters) - The Ugandan shilling        was stable on Friday but was
expected to weaken due to dollar demand from commercial banks and energy and
manufacturing companies.  

At 0912 GMT commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,655/3,665, same level
as Thursday's close.

America

Stocks stay subdued as dollar edges higher

(Reuters) - A stronger dollar and slightly higher global borrowing costs
kept world shares subdued on Friday and left gold limping toward its worst
week since December.

Europe’s main London, Frankfurt and Paris markets barely budged in early
moves, keeping MSCI’s 47- country world index just in the black on the day
but facing its third red week of the last four.

Wall Street futures were pointing slightly higher, but the there too the S&P
500 and Dow Jones are both down around 1 percent for the week.

Modest gains for the dollar meant the euro was set to post its second
biggest weekly loss in nearly four months . Caution over the Italian
election also gave bonds there their toughest week of 2018.

Polls point to a hung parliament in Italy, where no one party or coalition
has an outright majority to form a government, and analysts expect
short-term volatility that could weigh on traditionally sensitive euro zone
markets.

Italy’s 10-year bond yield was up 1 bps at 2.09 percent . It has risen about
10 basis points this week.

He noted comments from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
this week, who was reported to have warned about Italian election risks.

Broader global cross-asset issues remained much the same as they have during
a choppy few weeks. How far and fast U.S. interest rates can rise and what
would it mean for global borrowing costs, risk appetite and business
confidence.

That caution is reverberating in the bond markets with U.S. yields rising by
more than 50 basis points since early December, more than the 38 basis
points for German government debt.

Benchmark Treasury 10-year note yields rose to a four-year high of 2.957
percent on Wednesday though they were a shade below 2.90 percent on Friday.

The backsliding also trimmed the dollar’s overnight gains in Asia. It was
treading water against most major currencies ahead of U.S. trading, buying
106.8 yen and at $1.2306 and $1.3965 against the euro and pound.

It was still up more than 1 percent for the week though and headed for its
third gain in the last four weeks.

One of the Fed’s chief doves, St Louis Fed President James Bullard, tried to
tamp down those expectations of four rate hikes this year on Thursday,
saying policymakers needed to be careful not to slow the economy.

RUSSIAN RESURRECTION

Russian markets were readying for a big day with S&P Global due to review
Moscow’s credit rating.

It is just one step away from returning Russia to the investment grade
bracket that it ejected it from after the 2014-2015 slump in oil prices and
the Ukraine crisis. Its resurrection would also see Russian foreign currency
bonds return to some widely-tracked bond indices.

In Asian trading overnight, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan climbed 0.9 percent on Friday to add to the previous week’s
3.9 percent gain.

It is still down more than 4 percent in February so far, however, after
global equity markets were mauled at the start of the month by worries that
inflation was picking up.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7 percent, though China’s SSE Composite index and the
blue-chip CSI300 both pared early gains after the government seized control
of acquisitive financial conglomerate Anbang Insurance.

It was seen as a dramatic move that underscores Beijing’s intent to
crackdown on financial risk.

There were equally significant signs emerging from China’s central bank. Liu
He, a Harvard-trained economist who is a trusted confidant of Chinese
President Xi Jinping, has emerged as frontrunner to be the next governor of
the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), sources told Reuters.

Liu would replace current PBOC chief, 70-year-old Zhou Xiaochuan, who is
China’s longest-running head of the central bank, having taken the job in
2002. Zhou is expected to retire around the time of the annual session of
parliament in March.

Chinese currency, the yuan, notched marginal losses in the what has been a
holiday-shortened week.

The dollar’s strength meant it remained a tough environment for commodities
which are priced in the U.S. currency.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.74 a barrel,
down 3 cents from their last settlement, while Brent crude futures were down
2 cents at $66.37 a barrel.

There were concerns about high U.S. crude export levels which outweighed an
unexpected drop in oil inventories in the country which is also the world’s
biggest fuel consumer.

Industrial metals such as copper eased as they headed for a small weekly
drop and as trading slowly picked up again after Chinese markets had been
shut following the Lunar New Year holiday.

Gold remained the stand-out mover though and looking increasingly less
precious.

Its spot market price was down 0.2 percent at $1,328, heading for a fifth
session of falls in six. It has shed 1.6 percent this week, its biggest drop
since early December.

Commodities Markets

Copper, zinc slip on profit taking, firmer dollar

(Reuters) - Copper, zinc and other base metals prices fell on Friday as
investors locked in profits and the dollar firmed amid uncertainty over
demand in top metals consumer China.

Benchmark copper gained about 8 percent during a rally earlier this month
that saw the metal touch the highest in a month last Friday at $7,253 a
tonne.

But some analysts argue prices have overshot supply/demand fundamentals with
record high inventories indicating excess supply.

Menke forecast that copper will extend its correction to below $6,500 a
tonne by mid-year.

* COPPER: London Metal Exchange three-month copper was down 0.6 percent at
$7,116 a tonne by 1051 GMT after logging a small gain in the previous
session. * DOLLAR: Weighing on metals was a slight strengthening of the
dollar against a basket of currencies as global investors gingerly dipped
their toes back into riskier assets amid rapidly shifting views on U.S.
monetary policy.

* ZINC: LME zinc dropped 1 percent to $3,496 a tonne. Zinc inventories on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped 12 percent this week to 114,887 tonnes,
data showed on Friday.

* ALUMINIUM: LME aluminium shed 0.8 percent to $2,167 a tonne. LME aluminium
inventories rose again on Friday, bringing the gain of on-warrant stocks -
those not earmarked for delivery - to 39 percent in just over two weeks.
MALSTX-TOTAL

* ALUMINIUM PREMIUMS: A global aluminium producer has offered Japanese
buyers a premium of $135 per tonne for primary metal shipments during the
April to June quarter, up 31 percent from the current quarter, sources said.

* NICKEL: The global nickel market deficit narrowed to 12,400 tonnes in
December from a restated 13,100 tonnes in the previous month, the
International Nickel Study Group said on Thursday.

* LME nickel fell 0.3 percent to $13,790 a tonne. Nickel continues to
exhibit the largest speculative long position on the LME, according to
estimates by broker Marex Spectron, a note from Marex’s Alastair Munro said.

Gold heads for biggest weekly loss this year as dollar bounces

(Reuters) - Gold eased on Friday, heading towards its biggest weekly decline
in 2-1/2 months, as the dollar climbed from last week's three-year low on
the back of higher Treasury yields.

Spot gold        was down 0.1 percent at $1,330.51 an ounce at 1240 GMT, its
fifth losing session in six. U.S. gold futures         were flat at
$1,332.90 an ounce.

Spot prices have shed 1.4 percent this week, their biggest weekly decline
since early December, after failing to sustain a brief push back above
$1,360 an ounce last Friday.

Volatility has jumped across financial markets this month as investors worry
about the pace of U.S. rates hikes in the wake of data showing a rise in
inflation.

St Louis Fed President James Bullard on Thursday tried to tamp down
expectations of four rate hikes in 2018. Three increases are widely
anticipated.             

Stocks have steadied after recent sharp losses, while the dollar has found
its feet after falling last week to its lowest since the end of 2014. Rising
U.S. yields have put the currency

on track for its second biggest weekly gain of the year.        

In addition to their impact on currencies, higher yields can also weigh on
gold in their own right, as they increase the opportunity cost of holding
non-interest bearing bullion. 

The dollar index       , which measures the greenback against a basket of
currencies, was up 0.1 percent. 

On the physical gold markets, buying was muted in China after the week-long
Lunar New Year holiday, traders said, which closed financial markets until
Thursday. 

Among other precious metals, silver        was little changed at $16.62 an
ounce, palladium        was down 0.1 percent at $1,036.74 and platinum
was flat at $993.50.

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

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
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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
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
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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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