US tariff refunds flooding in, and D-day for social grants in South Africa

The rand held steady at R16.17/$ on the morning of Monday, 31 August 2026, where it closed on Friday, 28 August.

South African equities closed last week strong, with the JSE All-Share Index up 1.17% and the Top 40 Index up 1.24%.

This comes as the National Treasury is preparing to debut the country’s sovereign green bond, which could be issued before March 2027, depending on market conditions.

Wall Street closed lower on Friday following Kevin Warsh’s hawkish remarks at Jackson Hole, reinforcing a commitment to bring US inflation down to 2%.

The Nasdaq was down 0.52%, while the S&P dropped by 0.25%. The Dow Jones fell only slightly by 0.02%.

Market expectations for a September rate hike climbed to 57%, putting pressure on technology stocks, with Nvidia falling by 4.6%.

European equities recovered on Friday despite France’s Q2 GDP estimate being revised down to flat growth, and as German import prices climbed 6.8% in July.

In Asia, China’s official manufacturing PMI improved slightly to 49.8 in August, beating expectations of 49.6 but remaining below the 50-point threshold.

In the commodities market, renewed US-Iran hostilities saw oil prices rise to $90.68/barrel, while gold traded at $4,439.69/oz.

On Monday morning, the South African rand was trading at R16.17 to the dollar, R18.74 to the euro, and R21.90 to the pound.

Important finance and investing news

US tariff refunds flooding in: Many of America’s biggest companies are raising their financial outlooks for the year, with refunds from previously imposed tariffs providing a substantial temporary revenue boost. [Wall Street Journal]

D-day for social grants in South Africa: Nearly 70,000 South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries have not yet collected their Postbank black cards, with Monday marking the final day for them to migrate from their SASSA gold cards. [EWN]

Chinese airlines losing big: China’s three largest state-owned airlines have reported combined first-half net losses of $1.2 billion as jet fuel prices climbed amid the conflict in the Middle East. [Reuters]

BYD shooting the lights out abroad: Chinese car manufacturer BYD’s overseas revenue has exceeded its domestic revenue for the first time, ending one of the company’s longest profit slumps and paving the way for other Chinese car makers to follow. [Yahoo Finance]

South Africa kisses R56 billion goodbye: Since the outbreak of conflict between the United States and Iran in February, South Africa has incurred at least R56 billion in extra fuel costs, placing it among the 20 hardest-hit countries by the Strait of Hormuz crisis. [BusinessDay]