Tencent now China’s most valuable firm
‘An arbitrary exercise of power would weaken South Africa’s institutional strength.’
The high frequency data releases for the second quarter had signalled a mild lift in the industrial sector and another small positive contribution from the retail sector, Kaplan said.
However, GDP growth was forecast to essentially stagnate in 2016 at 0.2 percent year on year, marking the fifth year of slowing growth momentum. On the global front, lingering weakness in global growth and subdued international trade flows would act as a restraint on export growth, she said.
Domestically, depressed consumer confidence, high unemployment and weak credit growth were expected to see household consumption expenditure under pressure, she said.
Statistics SA on Thursday plans to release mining and manufacturing production updates for July. Kaplan said Thursday’s figures were expected to show that the two sectors had maintained some of their positive momentum into the third quarter.
In the second quarter, mining and manufacturing production registered a moderate strengthening on the lift in commodity prices and improved export performance, Kaplan said.
“There is scope for mining production to have registered positive growth for the first time in ten months, of 1.4 percent year on year, while manufacturing production is forecast to have risen 3.5 percent year on year versus a prior 4.5 percent year on year,” she said. TENCENT Holdings has surpassed China Mobile to become the country’s most valuable corporation, underscoring the growing importance of a vibrant private economy over lumbering stateowned enterprise.
Tencent rose 4.2 percent to HK$210.20 (R391.79) in Hong Kong yesterday, reaching a market value of HK$1.99 trillion, edging past China Mobile’s HK$1.97trln and putting the tech company in the ranks of the world’s 10 largest public companies, including Apple and Alphabet.
Tencent’s shares have jumped four-fold in as many years by building a lead in mobile gaming and online advertising, surpassing a roughly 20 percent advance in the Hang Seng index.
The company’s rise exemplifies the new realities of the second-largest economy, where smokestack industries prepare to lay-off workers while younger firms such as e-commerce giant Alibaba make inroads into everything from finance to media.
Private businesses, marginalised for decades by a state sector that enjoyed easy funding from government-owned banks, now play a pivotal role in hiring and innovation, and the best performers are spearheading China’s shift toward a