MORNING CRUMBS

? GLOBAL MARKETS
were hitting record highs on Wednesday, as upbeat earnings, hopes of a large U.S. stimulus & progress in vaccinations fanned optimism about a global recovery. China’s CSI300 rose 1.3% to a 13-year high. Corporate earnings have been beating expectations. Major stock indexes however closed little changed on Tuesday, though the tech-heavy Nasdaq eked out a record high on a gain of 0.14%. The S&P lost 0.11%. S&P had climbed the previous 6 sessions.

? THE JSE
closed firmer on Tuesday amid mixed global markets as investors digested stimulus prospects & global vaccine rollouts. The all share remained at a record high after closing above 65,000 points for the first time on Monday. Tuesday’s gains were relatively small. The all share gained 0.16% & the top 40 was little changed. Financials added 0.72% & industrials 0.68%. Resources fell 1.04%, platinum miners 0.69%, the gold mining index 0.67% & banks 0.48%. Tencent, a proxy for Naspers, is currently up 3.3% in Asia this morning. The top 40 is called to open +0.58% higher.

? *BITCOIN*
steadied near record highs on Tuesday, approaching the $50,000 mark, on the back of Elon Musk-led Tesla’s investment in the cryptocurrency that had investors believing it may become a mainstream asset class.

? *TWITTER*
on Tuesday beat estimates for quarterly sales & profit & followed its social media peers to forecast a strong start to 2021 as ad spending rebounds from a rock bottom. Total revenue came in at a record $1.29bn, an increase of 28% year over year. Shares of the company were up 3% in extended trading, adding to a 11% gain in stock so far this year.

? *DISNEY* is closing the animation studio behind film franchises “Ice Age” and “Rio” due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the entertainment industry, the company said on Tuesday.

? *BOEING* delivered 26 aircraft in January, boosted by the clearing of the 737 MAX jet to fly again after a 20-month ban as it also won 4 new orders for its 747-8 freighters.

? *OIL* rose on Tuesday for their seventh straight session of gains, touching 13-month highs as investors kept betting that fuel demand will rise while OPEC and allied producers keep a lid on supply. Brent settled up 53 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.06 a barrel.

? *TENCENT HITS RECORD HIGH* this morning amid <www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/QOACA6DWRGG5> positive sentiment toward reported changes at its gaming business. Tencent is now helping key firms revamp their business models to head off ByteDance, a major competitor, while coaxing them to stop competing with each other, reuters reports.