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Ok. Got itOur local bourse started the trading session marginally higher on Thursday tracking global markets and remained positive as the morning progressed. Positive momentum was maintained throughout the afternoon as the Rand continued to depreciate against major currencies which saw the All Share close higher by 0.44%. The best performer for the day was the banking sector, appreciating 0.83% by market close. Leading the upside were Barclays Africa Group and Firstrand, climbing by 1.74% and 1.57% respectively. Our gold mining sector bucked the trend and finished 0.66% lower, driven largely by Harmony which closed the day 0.93% softer.
On the company front, in results from PSG Konsult for the six months ended
31 August 2017, recurring headline earnings per share was up 10% to 18.2 cents, total assets under management was up 16% to R193bn while dividends per share was up 12% to 5.7 cents. In a trading statement from Datatec, the group expects for the six months ended 31 August 2017 (H1 FY18), underlying earnings per share of between 1 and 2 US cents, 84% - 92% below H1 FY17 of 12.5 US cents. Consolidated revenue for H1 FY18 is expected to be $2.99 billion* (H1 FY17: $3.04 billion*) with a gross margin of 13.3% (H1 FY17: 13.8%).
On the Economic front, retail sales in Australia unexpectedly decreased by 0.6% in August of 2017, following an upwardly revised 0.2% fall a month earlier and missing market consensus of a 0.3% gain. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry's business confidence index rose to 93 in September 2017 from 89.6 in the previous month, which was the lowest level since 1985, as merchandise import and export volumes grew. The trade deficit in the United States narrowed to USD 42.4 billion in August 2017 from a revised USD 43.6 billion in July and compared with market expectations of a USD 42.7 billion gap. Initial Jobless Claims in the United States decreased by 12 thousand to 260 thousand in the week ending September 30th. Economists had expected jobless claims to go down to 265 thousand. Total value traded for the day was R14.39bn.