Beer, miners in limelight on South African markets

22 Mar, 2004

Beer and mining are expected to hog the limelight on the Johannesburg stock exchange this week, when the world's third largest brewer releases a trading update and Anglovaal Mining gives first half results.
Gold stocks - a mainstay of the bourse - may also be popular in the holiday-shortened week if the bullion price stays around current levels of around $410 an ounce, fund managers say.
"Some resources counters like Anglo American and BHP Billiton could bounce back from oversold positions," said Neels van Schaik of PSG Fund Management.
"If the gold price keeps at these levels, we could see a rise in gold shares, driven by those listed in New York, including Gold Fields and Harmony," he added.
Investors are on holiday on Monday for Human Rights Day.
On Tuesday, SABMiller is due to issue a trading statement before it goes into its closed period ahead of full-year results on May 20.
Fund managers say the focus will be on the performance of Miller in the United States and the impact its China business is having on its bottom line.
SABMiller is one of South Africa's biggest companies, and makes up more than five percent of the all-share index.
On Wednesday, base metal miner Anglovaal Mining Limited releases its interim results to the end of December. It has said that it expects earnings to be more than 30 percent lower than in the same period a year earlier, hurt by rand strength and new accounting standards.
Although analysts do not expect too many surprises, they will be scrutinising the results for cash-flow, with one asset manager expecting a deterioration.
Later on Wednesday, the spotlight shifts to economic data when Statistics South Africa releases CPIX figures for February and the South African Reserve Bank issues its quarterly bulletin.
On Thursday, producer inflation data is due for release.
Investors in interest rate sensitive stocks like banks - including Standard Bank and FirstRand - and retailers will keep a close eye on the data.
Economists say inflation is expected to have nudged higher in February, confirming the cycle has turned upwards and making an interest rate hike later this year more likely.

Read Comments