Wall Street’s bet on 10 companies, and SAA under fire
South Africa’s rand traded between R16.50 and R16.59 against the United States dollar this week, stabilising near R16.50/USD on Friday.
This came after a volatile stretch, with the rand benefitting from the market’s reaction to South Africa’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) while also contending with global oil pressures.
The MTBPS strengthened South Africa’s fiscal foundation for the next phase of the country’s growth strategy.
The state’s deficit is narrowing, the primary surplus is strengthening, and debt is now projected to decline as a share of GDP.
The JSE also had a rocky week, seeing downward pressure driven by sliding mining stocks and global inflation fears.
This appeared to be a trend across local stock markets, with Wall Street’s volatile week driven by surging oil prices, concerns over artificial intelligence spending, and a telecom sell-off.
Asian markets echoed Wall Street’s artificial intelligence concerns, leading to a highly volatile week marked by sell-offs in technology stocks, strong inflation readings, and rising pressure on Middle East oil.
In the week ahead, South African investors can look forward to major earnings updates from local companies.
Pick n Pay, AB InBev, Datatec, Glencore, Impala Platinum, and Dis-Chem are expected to release results this coming week.
Northam Platinum, Impala Platinum, Motus Holdings, Bowler Metcalf, and Putprop will also host their Annual General Meetings this week.
In global markets, investors can keep an eye out for releases from Coca-Cola, PayPal, Eli Lilly, Amazon, Visa, Microsoft, and Alphabet.
BYD and Samsung are also expected to release their third-quarter 2026 results.
Important finance and investing news
Good news about global interest rates: The US Federal Reserve and its European and Japanese peers are expected to keep interest rates unchanged in the coming week. This comes after the Fed hiked rates in September. [Yahoo Finance]
Wall Street’s bet on 10 tech companies: Only ten companies, including AI giants such as Nvidia, Micron, and Meta, account for two-thirds of corporate profit growth. Just two companies, Nvidia and Micron, account for 34% of Wall Street’s Q3 earnings expectations. [Wall Street Journal]
Audi wants to build cars in the United States: US President Donald Trump said Audi will build its first factory in the United States. This would help Volkswagen’s luxury car division reduce its exposure to tariffs implemented by Trump. [New York Times]
Godongwana cracks down on municipal finances: The National Treasury is set to keep a close eye on municipalities across South Africa that do not pay their service providers. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has not ruled out withholding equitable shares from errant municipalities again. [EWN]
SAA under fire: Parliament has called for an urgent update on South African Airways’ finances. This comes after allegations of misleading reporting and a questionable profit declaration. [Sunday Times]
