The Good ...Ferrochrome price falls 4%, while confidence in SMMEs plunges

Share prices of ferrochrome producers shot up on Friday after they agreed to a less-than-expected cut of 4% in the third-quarter contract price. SA is the world's biggest producer of the commodity, a key component in stainless steel.

Shares of London-listed International Ferro Metals jumped 9.6%, while Merafe gained 3.4% in Johannesburg. Xstrata, which runs a joint venture with Merafe, gained 3.5%.

The ferrochrome contract price will fall to $1.30 a pound from $1.36 in the second quarter, Merafe said. Analysts had expected a steeper decline after a drop in stainless steel scrap prices and a slowdown in stainless steel orders.

ýNaspers posted a 21% rise in full-year core profits, boosted by breakneck growth at its subsidiary, Tencent Holdings, China's biggest Internet company. Unlike many media firms, which have been battered by the decline in traditional advertising revenue, Naspers has been helped by its focus on fast-growing economies such as Russia, Brazil and Asia.

• Demand for credit by SA's private sector registered the first growth in eight months last month, a sign that consumers may slowly be regaining confidence in spending.

Credit demand rose by 0.8% year on year, after a 0.86% decline in April, according to Reserve Bank data.

• Foreign investors were net buyers of R712.5-million worth of SA stocks in the week ended June 25, according to data released by the JSE.

• SA's trade deficit narrowed sharply in June as exports rose, despite the transport sector strike, the SA Revenue Service said.

The trade gap narrowed to R302-million, compared with a R1.9-billion shortfall in April.

Exports were up 6.8% compared with the previous month, while imports rose by 3.1%, SARS said.

• The SA Reserve Bank said it planned an amnesty for locals who had taken more money abroad than regulations allowed.

"From November 1, people who have contravened up to the end of February 2010 have got a whole year to submit their application to regularise their affairs," said Charles Nevhutanda of the central bank's exchange controls department.

"If we approve, then you pay 10%, based on the value of the amount you've contravened. The money should come from offshore but if you pay from local funds, then you pay an additional 2%, which is 12%, " Nevhutanda said.