South African investors can trade two of the best-known IT names through the listing of single stock futures (SSFs) on Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) and Google (www.google.com) on the JSE Limited (www.jse.co.za) on 11 December.

“The listing of SSFs on these two IT stocks, as well as the present SSF listing on Apple, will allow South African investors to further diversify their portfolios,” says Allan Thomson, Director of Derivatives Trading at the JSE.

Other International Derivatives (IDX) products trading on the JSE include “blue-chip companies” such as Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, Nokia, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, BP, Vodafone and GlaxoSmithKline. Contracts are priced and settled in South African rand.

IDX listed on the JSE can be purchased through any JSE-registered broker in the same way as local derivatives products. This offers investors international exposure cost-effectively on a trusted trading platform with none of the counterparty risk associated with over-the-counter trading. Retail South African investors can trade in these 2 US companies without using their ZAR2 million foreign allowance but institutional investors have to comply with foreign portfolio regulations.

Microsoft Corporation is the world’s leading computer technology provider and largest manufacturer of software products. Its most profitable products are the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite, according to the JSE press release. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington and is listed on NASDAQ.

Launched in 1996, Google Inc is a recent arrival but has taken the lead as the world’s most popular Internet search tool. The company derives the major portion of its revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, email, online mapping and social media services. Google has its headquarters in Mountain View, California and is listed on both NASDAQ and the London Stock Exchange.