Standard Bank hasn't ruled out a final dividend for the year after withholding an interim payout in line with guidance from the Reserve Bank. The bank says its board will take its capital position and the outlook into account at the end of the year before deciding. However, at this stage, forecast risk remains high and it may have to make additional provisions for bad debts if conditions get worse.

It was the first of the large banks to report back for the period to end-June and, as forecast, earnings were a lot lower due to a sharp increase in credit impairment charges. Nedbank, which reports next week, says its credit loss ratio has surpassed levels reached during the global financial crisis. It won't pay an interim dividend either.

Retailers have also continued to provide the market with a snapshot of what to expect when they report back to the market. Mr Price, which still has more than a month left until the end of its first half, says interim earnings will be at least 20% down from last year. Massmart will report a loss of more than R1 billion.

Gold Fields says gold companies have been provided a 'bittersweet respite' due to the rise in the safe haven metal to record levels as a result of Covid-19. It's reported a strong rise in first-half earnings. Impala Platinum expects to do the same when it reports full-year numbers early next month.

It's Friday, so look out for all the latest mergers and acquisitions news from DealMakers too.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

Latest views from Ingham Analytics

Markets in the US and elsewhere were weaker on Wednesday and Thursday, with the US in particular fixated on what the Federal Reserve minutes had to say. The rate-setting group didn't see the benefit of implementing so-called yield-curve control, capping yield. Going against yield-curve control supported longer-term bond yields as investors see the Fed's bond-buying anchoring rates. US yields have been in a tight trading range of between 0.90% and 0.50% since March with little indication of a bond-market selloff. Whilst the ten-year skirted with 0.5% early in August it is back up to around 0.66%.

Watch out for Andrew Kinsey's latest note on Monday which analyses the Federal Reserve's latest minutes and the implications of that for asset prices in the US and around the world. Andrew will also have useful tips on how to take advantage of the situation. What was clear is that the Fed wasn't as dovish as some may have anticipated but it is supportive of asset prices. We didn't need the Fed to tell us how bad the global economy is, we could figure that out for ourselves, but the big takeaway is how the Fed debated their monetary policy strategy over the coming two years.

On the topic of the Fed, in their latest Equity and Credit Markets strategy piece "Stimulus surge takes the sting out of Covid-19" Ingham Analytics raises interesting questions about behavioural economics together with the impact the astonishing monetary and fiscal stimulus is having on supporting market's. Who would have thought in March the market capitalisation US ordinary shares (the big ones that it is, led by Tech) would now be where it was in the third week of February. But they have cautionary advice for investors.