Trump strikes diesel deal with Putin, and former Telkom CEO in hot water

The rand was trading at R16.50 against the US dollar on the morning of Saturday, 10 October 2026, continuing to recover.

The currency was on track to end the week stronger by 0.7%, breaking a four-week losing streak.

This was supported by higher gold prices and a weaker dollar, while easing oil prices offered relief for the country.

The rand fell by 2% last week, its sharpest weekly decline during this most recent run of losses.

South African equities closed yesterday higher than they opened, with the JSE All Share Index up 1.32% and the Top 40 Index up 1.37%.

South Africa’s benchmark 2-35 government bond also strengthened, with the yield declining 7 basis points to 8.795%.

The US dollar traded flat as markets weighed inflation concerns with expectations for another Federal Reserve rate hike.

Oil prices rose to $104 per barrel yesterday, despite US President Donald Trump saying he would not attack Iran before the November midterm elections.

Meanwhile, the price of gold closed Friday at $4,193.87 per ounce, almost the exact same price it opened at yesterday morning.

On Saturday morning, the rand was trading at R16.50 to the US dollar, R18.49 to the euro, and R21.84 to the British pound.

Important finance and investing stories

Trump strikes diesel deal with Putin: US President Donald Trump has made a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin that will see the latter release millions of barrels of diesel to the US and global markets. 300,000 tonnes (or 2.2 million barrels) is set to be released immediately. [Wall Street Journal]

R1 billion tyre levy fails to deliver: South Africa’s tyre industry is warning that despite as much as R1 billion being collected in tyre levies every year by SARS, it is not being directed for proper recycling of tyres. Producers and importers of tyres are levied R2.30 per kg. [BusinessDay]

China to halve hybrid car exports: China has reached an agreement with the European Union to cut Chinese hybrid car exports to the EU by more than half over four years. The two sides agreed to improve access to China in exchange for €4 billion of EU goods. [Reuters]

Egypt inflation slows again: Egypt’s inflation slowed for a second consecutive month to its lowest levels since February, despite heightened pricing pressures amid escalations in the Iran war. Consumer costs in urban areas rose 13.9% in September versus 14.5% in August. [Bloomberg]

Former Telkom CEO in hot water: The former CEO of Telkom, Sipho Nkosinathi Maseko, has been convicted for failing to submit more than 85 tax returns to SARS on behalf of five companies where he served as director. He was charged an admission-of-guilt fine of R85,000. [EWN]