CEO takes SAA to court, and Elon Musk coming after Amazon

The rand was trading at R16.46 against the US dollar on the morning of Friday, 16 October 2026, strengthening slightly after weakening the day before.

South African indices posted gains yesterday, with the JSE All Share Index rising 1.53% while the Top 40 Index rose 1.68%.

Inflation is projected to average 4.4% this year, only returning to the Reserve Bank’s target of 3% in 2028.

Attention has turned to next week’s medium-term budget policy statement, as well as expectations of fiscal improvement.

On Wall Street, markets recorded modest gains, led by the Dow Jones at 1.08%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.33%.

US inflation concerns heightened after September producer prices increased 1.3% monthly and 6.3% annually.

In Europe, equities hit their highest in more than two weeks as earnings and demand for healthcare shares outweighed weakness in technology.

Britain’s economy grew 0.1% in August, beating forecasts of a 0.1% decline, while markets priced in an 87% chance of an ECB rate hike in December.

Asian shares recovered on Friday, despite concerns about CoreWeave’s debt raising doubts over AI investment financing.

Economists polled by Reuters expect Japan’s September core inflation to reach 2.1%, up from 1.7% in August, due to higher energy costs.

In commodities, Brent crude oil hovered around $105 per barrel as investors weighed shipping relief against supply disruptions. Gold remained flat.

On Friday morning, the rand was trading at R16.46 to the US dollar, R18.47 to the euro, and R21.88 to the British pound.

Important finance and investing news

New Porsche CEO’s revival plan: New Porsche CEO Michael Leiters is focusing on pricier luxury cars and a tougher work culture in order to turn around the struggling automotive maker. Leiters reportedly told employees that annual payouts weren’t a given, and would reflect a recovery in the company’s profits. Staff have also been asked to work in office more. [Wall Street Journal]

R1 billion bill for medical aids: The health minister’s decision to hike medicine prices for a second time in 2026 has sent medical aid schemes into a panic as they look to cover an additional R1 billion in medicine expenditure every year. The increase has been welcomed by pharmaceutical companies. [BusinessDay]

Elon Musk coming after Amazon: SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said he was considering starting an e-commerce platform to rival Amazon. This comes after Amazon blocked users from using Musk’s Grok bot and other AI agents to place orders on its site. [Yahoo Finance]

Indonesia gets downgraded: MSCI plans to downgrade Indonesia’s stock market to “standalone status”, saying it was no longer worthy of “emerging market” status. The index provider said it will cut the market from a suite of products tracked by global investors, extending its review until April 2027. [Reuters]

SAA heading to court: SAA acting CEO Matshela Seshibe is taking the airline to court over its placing of him on special leave in August. Seshibe wants the courts to force the airline to interview him, saying he was effectively judged as guilty before being allowed to answer the allegations against him. He wants the matter heard on 20 October before a new permanent CEO is appointed. [The Citizen]