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Ok. Got itA buoyed gold mining sector and strengthening Rand saw our local bourse start the trading session higher by 0.5% on Wednesday. Quiet morning trade saw the All- hare Index hold on to these gains. The positive momentum gained throughout the afternoon with our market eventually finishing the day up 0.7% at the close. The best performer for the day was the resources sector, appreciating 1.33% by market close. Leading the upside were ArcelorMittal and African Rainbow Minerals, climbing by 2.17% and 2.03% respectively. Our food & drug retail sector followed on closely and finished 1.32% higher, driven largely by Rhodes Food Group which closed the day 3.66% stronger.
On the company front, Echo Polska shareholders were informed that EPP has reached an agreement for the disposal of a portfolio of office properties, namely Tryton Business House in Gdansk. The agreed estimated transaction price for the shares in the companies controlling the office portfolio shall amount to EUR 160 million. The company intends on utilising the sale proceeds from the disposal to finance further retail acquisitions. Zeder released its interim results for the 6 months ended 31 August 2017. Salient points included a sum of the parts value of R 7.17 per share, recurring headline earnings decreased by 74.5% to 3.8 cents per share and headline earnings decreased by 69.9% to 4.3 cents per share. It is currently Zeder’s policy to only declare a final dividend at year-end. Aspen welcomed the South African Competition Comission’s decision to drop its investigation of Aspen for suspected abuse of dominance and excessive pricing on the basis that the comission’s investigation revealed that the revenue attributed to Myleran, Alkeran and Leukeran in South Africa are very low and these products are prescribed for very few patients. Vodacom lost as much as 8% at a stage after news of an investigation against the group for abuse of dominance, after the company secured an exclusive contract with National Treasury to be the sole provider of mobile telecommunication services to the government, was launched by the Competition Commission broke. The share ended the day lower by 3.22%.
On the Economic front, the Standard Bank South Africa PMI fell to 48.5 in September of 2017 from 49.8 in August. The reading pointed to the sharpest contraction in private sector activity since April of 2016 as output, new orders and employment all fell amid challenging economic conditions. The Nikkei Services PMI in Japan fell to 51.0 in September of 2017 from 51.6 in August. It was the twelfth straight month of expansion in services activity, but the weakest since October of 2016. The IHS Markit Germany Composite PMI increased to 57.7 in September of 2017 from 55.8 in August, slightly down from 57.8 in the preliminary estimate. The reading pointed to the highest expansion in private sector activity since 2011, with both manufacturing and services rising at a faster pace. The IHS Markit Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index rose to a four-month high of 56.7 in September 2017 from 55.7 in August, matching the earlier flash estimate, final figures showed. Retail Sales in the Euro Area increased 1.2% in August of 2017 over the same month in the previous year. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 53.6 in September 2017 from an 11-month low of 53.2 in the previous month, beating market expectations of 53.2. The rate of job creation remained close to August’s 19-month high. Private businesses in the United States hired 135 000 workers in September of 2017, the lowest in 11 months but above market expectations of 125 000. The service-providing sector added 88 000 jobs, boosted by professional and business (51 000). Composite PMI in the United States decreased to 54.80 Index Points in September from 55.30 Index Points in August of 2017. Non- anufacturing PMI in the United States increased to 59.8% in September from 55.3% in August of 2017. Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 6.02 million barrels in the week ending September 29 of 2017. Total value traded for the day was R 30.5bn.