Thursday is a busy day in SA, with an interest rate
decision as well as results from Tiger Brands, PPC, Stenprop, Freedom
Property and Primeserv
22 November 2018 - 07:21
Robert Laing
JSE: Picture: BLOOMBERG/WALDO SWIEGERS
With the US closed for Thanksgiving, it will be a
quiet day for international markets. But it is a busy day in SA, with an
interest rate decision, along with results from Tiger Brands, PPC,
Stenprop, Freedom Property and Primeserv.
The rand was back comfortably under R14/$, R16/€ and R18/£, with
traders appearing to bet Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago will
raise interest rates when he announces the monetary policy committee’s
verdict at 3pm on Thursday.
After reaching R13.83/$ on Thursday, the rand was trading at R13.93/$, R15.87/€ and R17.81/£ at 6.20am.
Image:
Iress
Of the 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey, 11
forecast the repo rate will be increased by 25 basis points to 6.75%,
and the rest predict the rate will stay at 6.5%.
“In November, policymakers are unlikely to vote unanimously. With the
retirement of monetary policy committee member Brian Kahn at the end of
September, the panel currently consists of six members, which means a
50-50 split of votes is possible,” PwC Strategy& economist Maura
Feddersen said in an e-mailed note.
“The relatively subdued inflation outlook and the still weak economy
will probably convince the monetary policy committee to delay hiking
rates for as long as possible. We forecast that rates will remain
unchanged this year, before rising moderately early in 2019,” Nedbank’s
economic team said in a note e-mailed on Wednesday.
Tiger Brands warned shareholders on November 9 that
it expected to report on Thursday that it expected headline earnings per
share (HEPS) for the year to end-September to fall by up to 30%.
laingr@businesslive.co.za
No comments :
Post a Comment