Nelson Mandela’s prison key on sale for R21 million, and Anthropic gears up for $2 trillion IPO

The rand was trading at R15.99 against the US dollar on the morning of Wednesday, 9 September 2026, unchanged from where it opened the day before.

South Africa’s GDP contracted by 0.2% during the second quarter versus an expected 0.1% decrease.

This is the country’s first contraction in two years, driven mainly by a 3.0% decline in mining, as well as a 1.9% decline in trade and 1.8% decline in manufacturing.

Despite this, JSE equities finished firmer yesterday, with the JSE All Share Index up 0.40% and the Top 40 Index up 0.39%.

Wall Street declined against rising oil prices as Middle East tensions reignited interest rate and inflation concerns.

The Dow Jones dropped 1.18%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.58% and the Nasdaq was down 0.32%.

European markets remained subdued ahead of the European Central Bank decision on Thursday, where a 25-basis-point rate hike is expected.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.70% while the Hang Seng was down 0.38%. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.20%.

China’s producer price index rose to 3.8% year-on-year in August, above expectations, against higher energy costs.

In commodities, Brent crude oil surged 2.07% to over $99 per barrel amid escalating Middle East hostilities and regional supply risks.

On Wednesday morning, the rand was trading at R15.99 to the US dollar, R18.61 to the euro, and R21.68 to the British pound.

Important finance and investment news

Mandela prison key up for sale: A handmade key from Robben Island, owned by Nelson Mandela’s prison warden, is expected to fetch R21 million at auction. Mandela’s daughter has put the key up for sale alongside some of Mandela’s personal items and gifts he received. [BusinessDay]

Anthropic’s $2 trillion IPO is coming: Anthropic plans to raise $100 billion in an IPO valuing the AI giant at $2 trillion. The company has filed its IPO paperwork with the SEC and is set to make its finances public during an investor roadshow this month. [Wall Street Journal]

Petrol price disaster hitting South Africa: South Africa’s largest debt counselling company has warned that rising petrol and diesel prices, which will hit record levels next month, are pushing consumers further into debt. It also expects more jobs to be lost. [EWN]

Foldable iPhone set to be launched today:  Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, will host his first iPhone launch event on Wednesday. Ternus is expected to debut Apple’s first foldable iPhone and launch upgrades to the iPhone 18 Pro models and Apple Watch lineup. [Yahoo Finance]

OpenAI cracks maths’ Holy Grail: OpenAI published a math breakthrough on Tuesday, representing the most significant advance yet in the AI maths war. The problem is one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems that were previously unsolved. [Wall Street Journal]