Events That Moved The Market – Q2 2016

11 million documents are leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, revealing how the wealthy avoid tax and launder money.

To address the oil glut, oil producing countries meet in Doha but fail to agree on an oil freeze after Saudi Arabia refuses to sign the agreement in the absence of Iran.

Argentina borrows $16.5bn in a triumphant return to international credit markets 15 years after its notorious default.

CPI decelerates from 7 in March. Fruit and veg inflation for the year to end March 2016 clocks in at 18.7%.

The US Federal Reserve keeps rates unchanged, but states that it is more optimistic about global growth than at its previous FOMC meeting.

Japan surprises markets by not stepping up its stimulus program.

US jobless claim figures show unemployment is near a 4-decade low.

US markets feel the punch of billionaire investor Icahn selling his stake in Apple, the biggest counter in the Dow Jones.

Minister Radebe announces the extension of Treasury director-general Lungisa Fuzile’s contract for a further two years.

SA records a trade surplus of R2.9bn in March, including trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.

New energy minister Falih, succeeding minister Naimi who refused to cut oil supply, promises more stable oil policies.

Q1 2016 unemployment rises to 26.7%, the highest since 2008.

The Bank of England votes to keep the UK key rate at 0.5%.

South Africa’s mining production falls by 18% - the most since at least 1980.

Berkshire Hathaway buys more than $1.1bn of Apple shares.

The Minister of Finance issues a media statement to address the rumours around his possible arrest by the Hawks.

Annual CPI to end April clocks in at 6.2 y/y.

Brent crude passes $50 a barrel – a key level - for the first time in 2016.

SA records a budget deficit of more than R29bn in April.

German unemployment declines more than economists estimated, pushing the jobless rate to the lowest level since reunification.

Prices are 0.1% lower in May than a year earlier.

SA posts a trade surplus of R0.43 billion in April 2016 from a downwardly revised surplus of R2.03 billion in the previous month.

South Africa narrowly avoids losing its investment grade credit rating from Standard & Poor's, but the agency maintains its negative outlook.

SA business confidence falls to a new all-time low in May, hurt by poor performances in sectors such as manufacturing and retail.

GDP contracts an annualised 1.2% in the first quarter of 2016.

Germany’s highest court decides an ECB scheme to buy troubled states’ bonds in secondary markets is constitutional. German bond rates fall to their lowest level on record.

SA current account deficit widens to 5% of GDP in the first quarter as dividend payments by local companies to foreign shareholders increase.

In the absence of signals that the US economy is heating up, the Federal Reserve keeps rates steady.

Tencent buys controlling stake in Supercell, creator of computer games such as the successful Clash of Clans.

CPI decelerates from 6.2 in May, lower than consensus expectations.

British voters’ surprise decision (52% majority) to leave the European Union creates havoc in international markets. Cameron resigns as prime minister.

China overtakes the US as the home of supercomputers – claiming 167 of the world’s most powerful machines.