Sappi cries out for help, and End of an era for Tesla

The rand was trading at R16.55 against the US dollar on the morning of Sunday, 8 November 2026, weakening slightly from the day before.

This is still stronger than where the currency started last week at R16.71 to the dollar, an appreciation of 0.97% over the course of the week.

Local equities posted higher gains over the week, with the JSE All Share Index seeing a weekly gain of 4.76% while the Top 40 Index gained 5.33%.

Several companies are scheduled to release corporate earnings in the upcoming weeks, starting with Omnia’s interim results on Monday, 9 November.

The company anticipates earnings per share of between 407 and 440 cents for the six months ending 30 September 2026, a growth of 25% to 35%.

Its headline earnings per share are also expected to increase by between 18% and 28% to as much as 410 cents, compared with 320 cents previously.

Vodacom is also expected to release its interim results on Tuesday, 10 November, followed by Coronation Fund Managers’ annual financial results on 17 November.

Astral Foods and Invicta Holdings are both set to release their annual and interim results, respectively, on 23 November.

In the commodities market, oil is currently trading at $98.32 per barrel, while gold is trading at $4,070.41 per ounce.

On Sunday morning, the rand was trading at R16.55 against the US dollar, R18.44 to the euro, and R22.09 to the British pound.

Important finance and investing news

Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion buyback: Berkshire Hathaway’s share repurchase programme approached $10 billion during the third quarter, despite the company’s overall profit falling more than 28%. The company’s cash pile grew from $365.5 billion at the end of June to $377.4 billion. [Associated Press]

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Sappi cries out for help: South African paper producer Sappi has called for stronger state protection from cheap paper imports flooding the local market. The industry giant has urged reforms in logistics, energy, and regulation to boost its competitiveness. [BusinessDay]

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Binance CFO exits: Binance chief financial officer Kaiser Ng is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange to “pursue a new venture” after more than five years at the company. This comes shortly after hackers stole $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from Binance users last week. [Yahoo Finance]

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End of an era for Tesla: Tesla will add an extra production shift to complete outstanding Cybertruck orders before dismantling the line next year for a planned expansion of Cybercab production next year, CEO Elon Musk said a day after Tesla announced it would wind down Cybertruck production. [Reuters]

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Trump to give AfriForum $1 million: The Trump administration is reportedly considering awarding nearly $1 million to AfriForum to investigate alleged discrimination and violence against Afrikaners and other minorities, according to an investigation by the non-profit American newsroom ProPublica. [SABC News]

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