Meta in hot water, and Mteto Nyati is here to stay

The rand was trading at R16.31 against the United States dollar on the morning of Saturday, 26 September, stronger than its Thursday close.

The JSE was less lucky on Friday, with the All Share Index slipping 0.66% and the Top 40 down 0.65%.

These declines can be attributed to the ongoing global bond market pressures and general risk aversion to emerging market assets.

On Wall Street, US equities finished Friday mostly flat to slightly higher, paring gains earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 was marginally higher at 0.2%, the Nasdaq was largely flat, and the Dow Jones rose 0.31%.

Asian stock markets were also mixed, as regional markets weathered the global bond sell-off that pushed US and Japanese yields to multi-year highs.

Japan’s Nikkei rose as much as 1.2%, bucking these pressures and extending its five-session winning streak for the week. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.7%.

Turning to commodities, the Brent crude oil price dropped significantly on Friday, down 2.61% to $104.24 per barrel.

This drop came as investors reacted to potential positive news from the Middle East, with the US and Iran re-engaging in peace talks.

Iran reportedly offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and asked the US to return to its failed June Memorandum of Understanding.

Despite this, the gold price remained relatively flat at $4,285 per ounce, driven by a slight softening of the US dollar and continued safe-haven buying.

The rand is trading at R16.31 against the US dollar, R18.58 against the euro, and R21.61 against the British pound.

Important finance and investing news

Mteto Nyati is here to stay: Mteto Nyati will remain Eskom’s chairman for another three years, with his reappointment coming as the power utility prepares for significant upcoming reforms. [BusinessDay]

Bubble fears build over Oracle’s force majeure: Global technology giant Oracle declared a force majeure on a huge US data centre that is currently under construction. This has amplified fears of the financial fallout that could follow a potential bubble pop. [Semafor]

Some US universities becoming cheaper: An increasing number of private colleges in the United States are reconsidering how much they charge. Some universities have gone so far as to slash their tuition in half. [Wall Street Journal]

European Union not backing down from $137 million fine for Elon Musk’s X: The EU said it is prepared to defend the fine it handed down to social media platform X, despite the US government saying it would back Elon Musk’s legal effort. [CNBC]

Meta in hot water: A New Mexico jury found that Meta misled the state’s residents following allegations that a political consulting firm obtained data from Facebook users without their consent. [Reuters]