Joburg needs R44 billion to keep the lights on, and Nike cutting jobs

The rand was trading at R16.68 against the US dollar on the morning of Friday, 2 October 2026, weakening sharply from the day before.

South African markets closed lower yesterday, with the JSE All Share Index dropping 0.69% while the Top 40 Index dropped 0.61%.

Manufacturing sentiment improved with the Absa PMI rising to 50.7 in September, above the expansion threshold for the first time since May.

While new sale orders increased and business activity recovered, employment declined with 14,000 jobs lost between March and June.

On Wall Street, US indices edged slightly higher, led by the S&P 500 at 0.19% while both the Dow Jones and Nasdaq recorded growth of 0.04%.

Global bond sell-offs eased following multi-decade Treasury yield highs, reducing expectations for a further Federal Reserve rate hike in October.

European equities opened weaker at the start of the fourth quarter, with the STOXX 600 falling 1.3% to a three-month low.

French and German bond yields rose to their highest points in years, with the latter country raising its 2026 growth forecast to 1.3%.

In Asia, markets traded cautiously ahead of key US employment data, with Chinese markets remaining closed for the National Day holiday until next week Thursday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.30%, while Tokyo core inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in 10 months during September, raising expectations for a Bank of Japan rate hike.

In commodities, the price of Brent crude oil shot back up to around $102 per barrel after China halted fuel exports, while gold weakened to $4,182.56 per ounce.

On Friday morning, the rand was trading at R16.68 to the US dollar, R18.77 to the euro, and R22.03 to the British pound.

Important finance and investing news

Nike to cut jobs next year: After two straight quarters of declining revenue, Nike said it expects sales to keep declining this year. As a result, the company will look at downsizing its operations next year, merging regional businesses and cutting many jobs. [Wall Street Journal]

Gautrain gets R15 billion upgrade: French rail group Alstom has said it will spend €800 million (R15 billion) over the next 15 years to provide new trains and upgrades to the Gautrain. Alstom is a shareholder in Sihamba Sonke Mobility, the consortium that was appointed as the Gautrain’s new concessionaire. [BusinessDay]

Hong Kong stocks hit seven-month slump: Hong Kong’s stock benchmark led losses in Asia after trading resumed following a holiday, with the Hang Seng index sliding as much as 3%, its most since 23 March. This was driven by a recent surge in US bond yields. [Bloomberg]

Anthropic lands $42 billion loan: AI company Anthropic has entered into a loan agreement with chip-maker Broadcom, with the latter planning to lend $42 billion to Anthropic to lease its chips. The financing arrangement follows similar deals made by Nvidia in recent years. [Reuters]

R44 billion to keep the lights on: The Centre for Development and Enterprise has estimated the electricity maintenance backlog for Johannesburg to be R44 billion, with deteriorating infrastructure accounting for 60% of the city’s power outages. City Power has raised alarms over alleged infrastructure targeting. [EWN]