Going up?

Nico Kelder, economist at the Efficient Group reports that small caps and gold shares made the most of the day.

Motorists are going to pay 10c to the litre more for petrol from 6th of October.

The currency traded weaker against the dollar but flat against the sterling and euro as the dollar regained some ground because of higher US interest rates.

South African bond yields closed weaker, the R153 lower by 3 points and the R157 down by 5 points.

Commodities traded mixed with platinum shedding 0.88%, oil higher by 3.55% and gold 0.49% lower.

European markets closed in the red with the FTSE marginally lower (-0.35%), the CAC lost 1.05% and the DAX decreased by 1.22%.

The surge in oil prices as well as the weak earnings in the US financial sector put international markets under pressure.

In the US, markets ended in the red, the Dow Jones shed 136 points or 1.32% and the Nasdaq following suit by 1.85%. In the East the Nikkei is closed for yet another holiday this week.

The Hang Seng is currently trading marginally lower by 0.18%. Locally we expect markets to keep a close eye on the currency.