La Borsa di Johannesburg ha attirato nel 2009 investimenti record per 76 miliardi di rand da parte di investitori esteri. Nel 2008, a causa della crisi creditizia mondiale, gli investitori internazionali avevano estratto 54 miliardi dalla borsa sudafricana. L’anno scorso, invece, dall’estero sono stati investiti anche 23.959 miliardi in bonds sudafricani, mentre l’anno prima ne erano stati venduti soltanto per 16 miliardi.

Benché a livello di record, tuttavia, le prestazioni della borsa sudafricana non appaiono eccezionali se paragonate a quelle delle altre economie emergenti.

La maggior parte degli investimenti in Sud Africa hanno avuto origini britanniche o americane, con un rivoletto di provenianza giapponese.

L’indice azionario sudafricano è aumentato del 29% nel corso dell’anno, ma gli investitori stranieri sono stati anche avvantaggiati dall’apprezzamento del rand nei confronti del dollaro. Nei dodici mesi, infatti, la valuta sudafricana si è apprezzata da 9.30 a 7.40 verso il dollaro. Per cui in dollari l’indice azionario della borsa sudafricano è salito del 61%.

JSE's foreign investors cash in on rand strength

The JSE attracted a record R76- billion in foreign investment in 2009, bouncing back from 2008 when the global credit crunch saw international investors yank R54- billion from the local bourse.

Global recovery pushing prices  Foreigners were also net buyers of South African bonds in 2009, purchasing R23.959-billion worth of local bonds versus sales of R16-billion in 2008.

Though beating the previous record of R72-billion foreign inflow into local stocks set in 2006, South Africa did not do that well compared with other emerging markets, according to Stanlib eco-nomist Kevin Lings.

He said: "Most emerging markets experienced record equity inflows in 2009. Despite large inflows into the JSE last year, most emerging-market equity funds appear to be neutral around South Africa."

Though international fund managers are not particularly bullish about South Africa, Lings noted there has been an increase in "cross-over" investment from funds that normally only invest in developed markets.

They have been attracted by the spectacular returns from emerging-market equity markets, up 73% in dollars measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets index.

The JSE's All Share index's rise was a more modest 29% over 2009. Foreign investors, however, did better than that thanks to the rand strengthening from R9.30 to R7.40.

"In dollar terms, the SA All Share index rose by around 61% in 2009," Lings said.

The JSE does not provide a breakdown of which countries are the investing in what.

Lings reckons most of the inflows are from the US and UK, some are from the rest of Europe and there is a trickle from Asia, specifically Japan.

"Traditionally, foreign investors would buy the large cap resource shares like Billiton, Anglo and Implats, and some of the other large cap stocks like MTN, Old Mutual and Standard Bank. But there has been increased diversification into other stocks such as construction companies and some of the retailers."

Local resource stocks were heavily favoured by foreign investors, spurred by higher precious metals prices, which hit record levels in 2009. Gold prices posted their biggest absolute annual gain in three decades in 2009 as investors bought heavily into bullion, widely favoured as a hedge against economic uncertainty. Precious metals such as platinum and palladium also clocked sharp gains for the year.

"The interest was mainly on the commodity side where they [foreigners] were buying in a big way. We're still regarded very much as a commodity market by foreigners," said Abri du Plessis, chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management.

The resource-heavy JSE Top 40 index of blue chip stocks gained 29% in 2009, while the local resources index notched up 33%.

"It's fair to say that what's pushing commodity prices and commodity share prices is a global recovery," said Du Plessis, adding that he expected foreign interest in South African stocks to remain high in 2010.

The JSE Top 40 index hit a four-month high on its first day of trading in 2010 on Monday.