SA metalworkers employers withdraw wage offer

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s steel and engineering employers group said on Tuesday it had withdrawn a “final” wage offer made to the striking NUMSA union to end a two-week industrial action. The strike by 220,000 NUMSA members has affected production at car makers such as Ford, Toyota and General Motors because of supply chain problems … Read more

Asian shares gain, count on Fed’s support

By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares rose on Tuesday after Citigroup’s earnings and a fresh round of merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. healthcare sector lifted global stock prices. Yet, with elevated prices on Wall Street and elsewhere relying substantially on support from low interest rates, many investors were now focusing on … Read more

Brent crude hovers near $107 on Libya, Iraq concerns

By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude inched lower on Tuesday, but still held near $107 a barrel as worries over conflict in the Middle East and North Africa supported prices. Several soldiers were killed and aircrafts were damaged in Libya on Monday, as rival militias in the OPEC nation fought for control of Tripoli’s airport in the worst violence for six … Read more

Shanghai most likely headquarters for BRICS development bank

By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Shanghai looks set to become the headquarters of a development bank being launched by the BRICS emerging market nations, despite fears by some members of the group that China could hijack the bank to serve its interests. Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa are due to sign off on the new institution on Tuesday, along with … Read more

SA stocks rise, market awaits MPC decision

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African shares gained for a second straight session in line with global markets on Monday and eyes will be turning this week to the domestic central bank, which will make an interest rate decision later this week. Shoprite gained the most amongst blue-chips, adding nearly 3 percent, after it said stores … Read more

Rand flat as metal strike grinds on

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand traded sideways against the dollar on Monday, shrugging off a rejection by 220,000 striking metal workers of the latest wage offer from employers to try to end a two-week work stoppage. After two sessions of losses in the previous week, the rand inched up 0.02 percent to 10.7000 versus the greenback … Read more

Shoprite FY sales up 10.5%, shares rise

(Reuters) – South African grocer Shoprite posted a 10.5 percent rise in annual sales on Monday, helped by a robust showing abroad and sending its shares to their biggest daily gain in more than three months. Africa’s biggest retailer said sales increased to 102.2 billion rand ($9.6 billion) in the 12 months to June, largely … Read more

Anti-apartheid author, Nobel winner Nadine Gordimer dies

By Ndundu Sithole JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African Nobel Prize-winning author Nadine Gordimer, an unwavering moralist who became one of the most powerful voices against the injustice of apartheid, has died at the age of 90, her family said on Monday. Gordimer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991, died at her Johannesburg home on Sunday … Read more

Britain to fund SA carbon trading experiment

(Reuters) – Britain will expand funding for a programme to help coal-rich South Africa develop a carbon trading market in an attempt to rein in its rising greenhouse gas emissions. The British High Commission in Pretoria last week said it will fund a pilot emissions trading programme from next year to help companies prepare for a 120-rand-per-tonne … Read more

Mercedes Benz says supply to SA plant “critical” due to strike

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – German car maker Mercedes Benz said on Monday supplies to its South African plant were “critical” due to a strike by engineering workers, although production was still continuing. “Supply lines are becoming critical due to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) strike in the engineering and metals sector,” the head of Mercedes’ … Read more