Events that moved the market 2021

Newly elected US President Biden introduces details of his stimulus programmes. The first programme entails additional expenditures of US$1.9 trillion that would be entirely debt-financed.

China’s full-year growth comes in at 2.3 achieved in 2019.

Japanese core prices are down 1.0% versus a year earlier, the worst performance since 2009, despite the hugely aggressive monetary policy of the Bank of Japan.

South Korean and Japanese shares lead Asia higher, with the Nikkei 225 hitting 30,000 for the first time since 1990.

Platinum rises to its highest level in more than six years and copper to its highest since 2012.

Data shows that SA GDP shrank 7 expansion in 2019. This is the biggest decline since 1920.

After nearly a week of blocking the Suez Canal, which normally carries about 12% of global trade and one million barrels of oil a day, the giant container ship Ever Given is finally freed.

South Africa’s trade surplus widened to R28.96 billion ($1.96 billion) in February from a revised surplus of R12.42 billion in January. Exports increased by 16.5% on a month-on-month basis.

Capitec reports net credit impairments that rose 75 falloff in total loans advanced and disbursements. Net income has dropped 9%.

Bitcoin jumps to an all-time high as the mood in cryptocurrencies turn bullish before Coinbase Global goes public.

The price of palladium, used to curb emissions, surpasses the previous record set in February 2020. Prices have climbed more than 17% this year, building on five straight annual gains.

Hurt by Covid-19-led lockdowns across its markets, TFG flags an up to 85% decline in full-year profit.

South Africa launches phase two of its vaccine rollout with the aim of inoculating five million citizens aged over 60 by the end of June.

After years of speculation of a possible deal between the world’s second largest beer group Heineken and South Africa’s Distell, the two groups announce they’ve entered into discussions.

Minister Gorhan announces that Eskom has reduced its debt by almost a fifth after repaying matured loans and benefiting from a strong exchange rate.

In a surprise move, President Ramaphosa announces that the government will increase the generation threshold for companies to produce their own electricity without a licence to 100MW.

Naspers’ annual results show that company revenue grew by 32 to $5.6 billion.

SA re-enters lockdown level 4 with amended restrictions, effectively closing down alcohol-related industries, hospitality and tourism.

The South African National Defence Force commences with ‘pre-deployment processes’ to send forces into violence-stricken KwaZulu-Natal.

Investors shun Chinese-listed companies amid a crackdown by regulators in Beijing. In three trading days, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index plunged more than 19%, its biggest drop on record.

President Ramaphosa appoints Enoch Godongwana, chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, after Tito Mboweni resigned.

Statistics SA reports that the SA economy is 11% bigger than previously thought. Re-basing the South African GDP is a regular exercise that should be done every five years.

Shoprite, South Africa’s biggest employer, achieves record sales of R168 billion in the financial year to end June. It declares a record dividend of 544% per share.

The balance on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, widened to an annualised surplus of 5.6% of GDP, the largest quarterly current account surplus on record.

Emerging markets sink with a 3.3% dive in Hong Kong leading declines as real estate giant China Evergrande hits 11-year lows, staring down a fast approaching debt repayment deadline.

Improved sales volumes seen by food and beverages and hardware retailers in Q3 2021 lead the increase in retailer confidence to a seven-year high of 56. The long-term average is 39 points.

Brent crude oil nears a 3-year high close to the $80/barrel level as supply struggles to keep up with the rising demand for oil.

South Africa records its first quarterly primary budget surplus since 2018 – for Q2 2021. The government’s primary balance swings to a surplus of R9.8 billion, or 0.6% of GDP.

A Facebook outage leads to the share price plummeting 4.9 since mid-September when WSJ revealed that Facebook knew about the harmful effects of its products.

The US consumer price index soars 6.2% from a year ago — the biggest 12-month jump since 1990.

Heineken NV offers to buy South African wine and spirits maker Distell Group Holdings NV for 2.2 billion euros.

The JSE closes at a new record high of 70 091 points. Retail giant Shoprite Group ends the day as the top performing stock, after surging almost 7% to a 52-week high.

The South African Reserve Bank announces that the repo rate will increase by 25 basis points to 3.75.

British inflation surges to a 10-year high as household energy bills soar. Consumer prices rose by 4.2 increase in September.

South African scientists identify a new Covid-19 variant – later named ‘omicron’. The UK bans all flights from South Africa, followed shortly after by US bans.

Unemployment in South Africa continues to accelerate, reaching 34.9 in the previous quarter.

The US consumer price index rises 6.8% on a year-over-year basis and the fastest since June 1982.

South Africa’s inflation rate jumps to the highest level in almost five years, reaching 5.5%.

Newly elected US President Biden introduces details of his stimulus programmes. The first programme entails additional expenditures of US$1.9 trillion that would be entirely debt-financed.

China’s full-year growth comes in at 2.3 achieved in 2019.

Japanese core prices are down 1.0% versus a year earlier, the worst performance since 2009, despite the hugely aggressive monetary policy of the Bank of Japan.

South Korean and Japanese shares lead Asia higher, with the Nikkei 225 hitting 30,000 for the first time since 1990.

Platinum rises to its highest level in more than six years and copper to its highest since 2012.

Data shows that SA GDP shrank 7 expansion in 2019. This is the biggest decline since 1920.

After nearly a week of blocking the Suez Canal, which normally carries about 12% of global trade and one million barrels of oil a day, the giant container ship Ever Given is finally freed.

South Africa’s trade surplus widened to R28.96 billion ($1.96 billion) in February from a revised surplus of R12.42 billion in January. Exports increased by 16.5% on a month-on-month basis.

Capitec reports net credit impairments that rose 75 falloff in total loans advanced and disbursements. Net income has dropped 9%.

Bitcoin jumps to an all-time high as the mood in cryptocurrencies turn bullish before Coinbase Global goes public.

The price of palladium, used to curb emissions, surpasses the previous record set in February 2020. Prices have climbed more than 17% this year, building on five straight annual gains.

Hurt by Covid-19-led lockdowns across its markets, TFG flags an up to 85% decline in full-year profit.

South Africa launches phase two of its vaccine rollout with the aim of inoculating five million citizens aged over 60 by the end of June.

After years of speculation of a possible deal between the world’s second largest beer group Heineken and South Africa’s Distell, the two groups announce they’ve entered into discussions.

Minister Gorhan announces that Eskom has reduced its debt by almost a fifth after repaying matured loans and benefiting from a strong exchange rate.

In a surprise move, President Ramaphosa announces that the government will increase the generation threshold for companies to produce their own electricity without a licence to 100MW.

Naspers’ annual results show that company revenue grew by 32 to $5.6 billion.

SA re-enters lockdown level 4 with amended restrictions, effectively closing down alcohol-related industries, hospitality and tourism.

The South African National Defence Force commences with ‘pre-deployment processes’ to send forces into violence-stricken KwaZulu-Natal.

Investors shun Chinese-listed companies amid a crackdown by regulators in Beijing. In three trading days, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index plunged more than 19%, its biggest drop on record.

President Ramaphosa appoints Enoch Godongwana, chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, after Tito Mboweni resigned.

Statistics SA reports that the SA economy is 11% bigger than previously thought. Re-basing the South African GDP is a regular exercise that should be done every five years.

Shoprite, South Africa’s biggest employer, achieves record sales of R168 billion in the financial year to end June. It declares a record dividend of 544% per share.

The balance on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, widened to an annualised surplus of 5.6% of GDP, the largest quarterly current account surplus on record.

Emerging markets sink with a 3.3% dive in Hong Kong leading declines as real estate giant China Evergrande hits 11-year lows, staring down a fast approaching debt repayment deadline.

Improved sales volumes seen by food and beverages and hardware retailers in Q3 2021 lead the increase in retailer confidence to a seven-year high of 56. The long-term average is 39 points.

Brent crude oil nears a 3-year high close to the $80/barrel level as supply struggles to keep up with the rising demand for oil.

South Africa records its first quarterly primary budget surplus since 2018 – for Q2 2021. The government’s primary balance swings to a surplus of R9.8 billion, or 0.6% of GDP.

A Facebook outage leads to the share price plummeting 4.9 since mid-September when WSJ revealed that Facebook knew about the harmful effects of its products.

The US consumer price index soars 6.2% from a year ago — the biggest 12-month jump since 1990.

Heineken NV offers to buy South African wine and spirits maker Distell Group Holdings NV for 2.2 billion euros.

The JSE closes at a new record high of 70 091 points. Retail giant Shoprite Group ends the day as the top performing stock, after surging almost 7% to a 52-week high.

The South African Reserve Bank announces that the repo rate will increase by 25 basis points to 3.75.

British inflation surges to a 10-year high as household energy bills soar. Consumer prices rose by 4.2 increase in September.

South African scientists identify a new Covid-19 variant – later named ‘omicron’. The UK bans all flights from South Africa, followed shortly after by US bans.

Unemployment in South Africa continues to accelerate, reaching 34.9 in the previous quarter.

The US consumer price index rises 6.8% on a year-over-year basis and the fastest since June 1982.

South Africa’s inflation rate jumps to the highest level in almost five years, reaching 5.5%.