Eskom cuts diesel spending by R4.8 billion, and Nvidia’s record $235 billion buyback

The rand was trading at R16.44 against the US dollar on the morning of Tuesday, 29 September 2026, weaker than the day before.

South African equities posted sharp declines yesterday, with the JSE All Share Index dropping by 1.55% and the Top 40 Index by 1.76%.

Rising global bond yields and falling precious metal prices weighed on South Africa’s risk appetite, specifically in the case of gold and platinum.

On Wall Street, indices closed lower as 10-year US Treasury yields climbed to their highest level since June 2007, raising expectations for further Fed rate hikes.

This led the Nasdaq to report a 0.92% decline, while the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both posted drops of 0.67% and 0.77%, respectively.

European markets ended yesterday mostly unchanged amid rising oil prices and elevated bond yields, with the STOXX 600 closing completely flat.

This was offset by a British homebuilder surge between 10.4% and 14.7%, following government proposals for a new first-time buyer equity-loan scheme.

In Asia, equities traded lower as Chinese tech shares came under pressure from potential US restrictions, which saw the Shanghai Composite drop 1.67%.

The Nikkei 225 declined by 0.73% amidst rising global bond yields and elevated oil prices, while the Hang Seng rose by 0.54%.

In commodities, Brent crude oil remained around $107 per barrel due to Middle East supply concerns, advancing for a second consecutive session.

Meanwhile, gold steadied near a seven-week low at $4,129.53 per ounce as expectations for further Federal Reserve rate tightening weighed on precious metal prices.

On Tuesday morning, the rand was trading at R16.44 to the US dollar, R18.67 to the euro, and R21.76 to the British pound.

Important finance and investing news:

Nvidia’s record $235 billion buyback: The board of Nvidia has approved a $150 billion increase to the chip-maker’s share repurchase programme, bringing the total authorisation of the buyback to $235 billion. This comes just four months after Nvidia added $80 billion to the programme, and has surpassed Apple’s $110 billion stock buyback unveiled in May 2024. [Wall Street Journal]

Eskom bought 81% less diesel: State-owned power utility Eskom slashed its diesel expenditure by 81% between 1 April and 17 September 2026 as steep fuel price increases came into effect in South Africa due to the US-Iran war. This saw Eskom’s diesel spend drop by R4.8 billion compared with the same period last year. [BusinessDay]

Anthropic posts $42 billion loss ahead of $2 trillion IPO: American AI company Anthropic has posted a net loss of $42 billion for 2025 ahead of its initial public offering, which could value the company at $2 trillion. It is likely to be pushed until after the US midterm elections in November. The company’s operating loss grew from $2.98 billion in 2024 to $8.06 billion in 2025. [Reuters]

Japan bond sale sees strong demand: Japan’s 40-year government bond auction saw its highest levels of demand since 2020, attracting bids equal to 3.1 times the amount offered. This is up from the 2.82 seen during the previous sale and higher than the 12-month average of 2.67. Rising speculation suggests the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates again as early as next month. [Bloomberg]

Gold Fields dealt major rejection: JSE-listed mining company Gold Fields’ R445 billion offer to acquire Australian miner Northern Star Resources has been rejected, with the latter company’s board saying it was not appropriate to engage in further discussions at this time. The rebuff has seen Gold Fields’ share price drop to a more than seven-week low. [BusinessDay]