Rand strengthens as Cyril makes all the right noises

Great week on the JSE, the Rand traded below $12USD for the first time since April 2015 and the stock market ended almost a percent higher (despite the stronger Rand) – great combination of Cyril making all the right noises in Davos, the weaker dollar and stronger commodity prices. It was also a good week generally for resources, banks and retailers - except Woolworths which wrote down R7bn related to David Jones in Australia... turning out to be not-their-best purchase. Steinhoff did a private placement of PSG shares, raising R7.1bn. Offshore though, Richemont has now purchased all the shares in Yoox-Net-a-Porter. Adapt IT released some exceptional results, with organic growth jumping 17% (versus previous 4%). CPI Inflation came out slightly higher than expected at 4.7%, but still well within the 3-6% target range. In the US, GDP printed at 2.6% for the fourth quarter.