Dow, S&P rise with oil, Motorola; SanDisk sinks

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as a 5.5 percent jump in oil prices to nearly $57 a barrel spurred a rally in the energy sector, while shares of Motorola Inc. gained after investor Carl Icahn said he will seek a seat on the board.

U.S. crude oil futures prices shot up nearly $3 a barrel on colder temperatures and an OPEC supply cut expected to go into effect on Thursday. Exxon Mobil Corp., up 1.6 percent, or $1.19, at $74.39, gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and ranked No. 2 among the Dow's advancers.


Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

Rand creeps firmer ahead of trade data

South Africa's rand nudged firmer against the dollar on Wednesday but was expected to be range bound ahead of domestic trade data that will shed light on the country's troubled balance of payments.

The rand was trading at 7.29 versus the greenback at 0700 GMT, from the New York close of 7.31 on Tuesday.

Traders said the local currency would likely trade in a narrow range in cautious trade ahead of the trade figures due at 1200 GMT.

Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

OPEC must comply with agreed oil supply cut - Nigeria

OPEC oil exporters agree the group should fully implement agreed cuts in supply rather than announce new measures to shore up the price, Nigerian Energy Minister Edmund Daukoru said Tuesday.

A second cut in OPEC oil supply quotas is due to take effect on February 1 and the 12-member group should see how the market responds to that before taking any further action, Daukoru said

Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

JSE fate in foreign hands

Foreigners pose the biggest risk to our market, says Old Mutual

Investors worried that the JSE’s stellar returns are temporary should pin their fears on foreign support drying up. This was the view given by Old Mutual Investment Group’s Peter Brooke, who presented the asset manager’s market view on Tuesday.

Read Full Article at Moneyweb.co.za

Gold gains on oil rise, awaits Fed meet outcome

A rise in oil prices helped lift gold on Tuesday, but dealers were cautious ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that may determine the metal's price direction.

Spot gold rose as high as $645.80 an ounce and was quoted at $644.90/645.65 by 1516 GMT, against $642.60/643.60 late in New York on Monday.

"The market now appears to wait for the outcome of the two-day FOMC meeting starting today. Crude oil remains the dominant fundamental driver for the time being," Dresdner Kleinwort said, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee

Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

A Corporate Approach To Personal Finance

Companies across the world operate in much the same way. They go into business, manage their expenses and try to turn a profit. It is a tried and true concept that can also be applied to personal finance. Think of yourself as your own little company. To make your company run smoothly, you need to take a look at your books. The exploration starts with a comparison of your income and expenses. In this article we'll show you how to apply corporate money-managing concepts to your own financial situation

Read Full Article at investopedia.com

Implats sees huge profit surge

Implats expects first-half headline and basic earnings per share to surge by 120-140% on strong metals prices, the firm said on Tuesday.

Impala Platinum Holdings, the world's second biggest platinum producer, gave no other details of its results for the six months to December in a brief trading statement.

Read Full Article at FIN24.co.za

Coal miners unhappy on new S.Africa rail contracts

New coal freight contracts issued last week by South African rail freight operator Spoornet include stiff performance penalties for producers but few for Spoornet itself, South African coal producers and transport sources said.

South Africa's coal mining companies are almost completely reliant on Spoornet to take their exports to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), the world's biggest single coal port.

Large and small producers said they were reluctant to accept the new Spoornet contracts as they stand because the operator does not propose to face a similar level of penalty if it fails to perform.

Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

European stocks flat in early trade, miners fall

European shares were flat to slightly lower in morning trade on Tuesday after a muted performance on Wall Street, while miners including BHP and Anglo American tracked losses in copper prices.

Shares in bid target Corus extended their ascent and rose 0.6 percent to a new seven-year high of 563 pence, ahead of a proposed auction for the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker, with both India's Tata Steel and Brazil's CSN interested suitors.

Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

S.Africa securities up 44 pct in 2006,seen growing

Securitisation in South Africa increased by 44 percent to 31.7 billion rand in 2006 and should rise further this year as appetite for structured finance grows, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

In a report, the ratings agency said issuance of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities increased to 13.4 billion rand in 2006 from 10.7 billion the previous year, almost half of it from Standard Bank's Blue Granite Investments programme.

This brought the total term issuance to date to 83.2 billion.

Read Full Article at Reuters South Africa

Rate hike 'less likely'

Growth in demand for credit by South Africa's private sector slowed to 25.81% in the year to December from 26.77% in the year to November, official data showed on Tuesday.

During the same period, the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply grew by 21.93%, also lower than forecasts, from November's 25.33%.

Read Full Article at FIN24.co.za