Reserve Bank targets R10 trillion, and Zuckerberg goes all in on AI
The rand was trading at R16.39 against the US dollar on the morning of Thursday, 22 October 2026, slightly stronger but largely unchanged from the day before.
South African equities closed lower yesterday, with the JSE All Share Index dropping 0.67% and the Top 40 Index dropping 0.79%.
Government bonds strengthened following an announcement to reduce weekly fixed-rate auctions and introduce bond buybacks.
September inflation advanced to 4.5%, below the forecast of 4.7%. Fuel prices remain an upside risk.
The National Treasury reduced its growth forecast for 2026 to 1.2%, while projecting a tighter budget deficit of 3.9% of GDP.
Debt stabilised at 78.4% of GDP, while temporary fuel levy relief totalled R10 billion. Tax revenue estimates increased by R17.1 billion.
On Wall Street, indices advanced on Wednesday led by AI and technology shares, with the Nasdaq up 1.05%, the Dow Jones up 0.69%, and the S&P 500 up 0.58%.
US mortgage applications declined 5.3% despite the 30-year fixed mortgage rate declining to 7.41% over the course of the week.
In Europe, shares rebounded as strong corporate earnings outweighed political concerns in France. The STOXX 600 was up 0.92% as a result.
UK inflation accelerated to 3.5% from 3.1%, raising expectations of further interest rate tightening.
Asian markets remained mixed, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.85% while the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite fell 0.90% and 0.60%, respectively.
South Korea’s central bank held rates at 3.00%, pointing to momentum in exports, while remaining open to potential increases in future.
In commodities, oil advanced to $111 per barrel as US crude stocks decreased faster than expected. Gold fell 1.21% and is now sitting around $4,092.22 per ounce.
On Thursday morning, the rand was trading at R16.39 to the US dollar, R18.44 to the euro, and R21.97 to the British pound.
Important finance and investing news
Zuckerberg goes all in on AI: Meta announced it will create a new class of nonvoting stock to raise the capital it needs for the development of its AI models. The new shares will be issued to holders of common and supervoting shares, creating a 2-for-1 split stock, with an effective date of 19 January 2027. [Wall Street Journal]
Reserve Bank targets R10 trillion: The South African Reserve Bank is pushing ahead with a plan to allow investment institutions to manage funds and companies in foreign currencies within South Africa’s borders, a move which the Bank says could see R10 trillion in offshore assets repatriated to the country. [BusinessDay]
Anthropic gearing up to go public: Anthropic is set to publicly file its S-1 investor prospectus as early as Friday this week, marking a major step for what could become the largest IPO in history. The listing has been highly anticipated, and is expected to surpass SpaceX’s IPO from June. [Yahoo Finance]
Netflix stumbles: Netflix shares dropped by nearly 5% on Wednesday after the company forecast a fourth consecutive quarter of slowing revenue growth. Cuts to the company’s advertising sales expectations have raised concerns that its growth has hit a wall. [Reuters]
State to foot R1.6 million Transnet bill: The South African government has offered to pay R1.6 million for software to be used in the corruption case against former Transnet executives Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh, Siyabonga Gama, and others. The accused face charges linked to the procurement of locomotives worth R54 billion, but a deadlock has prevented the trial from getting underway. [EWN]
