China throws South Africa a bone, and America gets a new $75 billion bank

The rand was trading at R15.99 to the US dollar on the morning of Tuesday, 8 September 2026.

South African equities ended firmer yesterday, with the JSE All Share Index up 0.23% and the Top 40 Index up 0.31%.

The country’s net foreign reserves rose to $73.69 billion in August from $71.76 billion in July, while the 2035 government bond yield sat around 8.53%.

Stats SA is expected to release its second-quarter GDP growth data later today, with mining and manufacturing data to come later this week.

Wall Street equities remained unchanged from yesterday as the United States markets closed for the Labour Day holiday.

In Europe, Eurozone confidence hit a four-year high, while Q2 GDP growth reached 0.6% quarter-on-quarter.

The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday, with expectations for a 25-basis-point hike.

Asian markets were mixed, with the Hang Seng closing Monday down 0.93% while the Nikkei 225 was up 2.25%.

Japan’s annualised Q2 GDP growth was revised up to 1.4% as July real wages rose 2.4%, while China’s exports grew 25% year-on-year in August.

Consumer sentiment in Australia fell 5.2% to 84.4 in August on the back of higher interest rates and fuel costs.

In commodities, Brent crude oil reached its highest price since 24 July at $97.57 per barrel, while gold rose to $4,437/oz as the dollar weakened.

On Tuesday morning, the rand was trading at R15.99 against the US dollar, R18.59 against the euro, and R21.65 against the British pound.

Important finance and investing news

New $75 billion American bank: Florida-based EverBank Financial has reached a deal to pursue a reverse merger with smaller bank WaFd in the Pacific Northwest, creating a new $75 billion bank. This comes as the private equity firms that bought EverBank seek to exit the company. [Wall Street Journal]

China throws South Africa a bone: China’s removal of tariffs on certain African goods is lowering the cost of exporting to the country, with South African apples and wine already benefiting. More than 6,000 bottles of the latter have already cleared customs under the new arrangement, which began on 1 May. [BusinessDay]

Millennium in rare company: Millennium Management’s assets have hit $97 billion, more than double the $47 billion it oversaw six years ago. The hedge fund manager has now surpassed much of its competition as it approaches $100 billion, placing it in territory that few other managers have ever reached. [Yahoo Finance]

AI startup worth $3 billion: Artificial intelligence startup Gimlet Labs has been valued at over $3 billion after it raised $300 million in a new funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz that included backers from Arm Holdings and Microsoft’s venture fund M12. [Bloomberg]

South African mines falling behind: ABB has warned that South Africa’s mines will lose competitiveness if they continue to delay integrating automation and digital technologies as global mining operations advance. [BusinessDay]