Calls for more petrol and diesel price relief, and US airline in serious trouble
On Friday, 23 October, the rand traded at R16.59 against the United States dollar, as global risk aversion spread.
At the same time, local equities and broader emerging markets were pressured by a global tech and artificial intelligence (AI) sell-off and ongoing supply concerns in the Middle East.
This saw South African markets close lower on Friday, with the JSE All Share Index slipping 0.47% and the Top 40 down 0.55%.
The JSE was not a standout on Friday, with US markets also closing broadly lower on Friday, driven by surging oil prices and continued geopolitical uncertainty.
The S&P 500 was down 0.5%, marking its second consecutive weekly decline. The Dow Jones slipped 1.2%, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.2%.
This was largely due to market sentiment taking a dive amid the Middle East conflict, with fears growing of an escalation between the US and Iran and of what this could mean for inflation.
On top of this, concerns are rising about the sustainability of the AI spending boom, despite positive news coming from SpaceX and Anthropic earlier this week.
Sentiment turned later in the week after Meta said it plans to create a new class of non-voting stock to raise capital to develop AI models.
Asian markets ended the week slightly better than Wall Street, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.69% and China’s Shanghai Composite gaining 0.89%. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.34%.
The Nikkei’s drop can be attributed to major semiconductor players such as Tokyo Electron and Advantest, compounded by a hotter-than-expected domestic inflation reading.
In commodity markets, Friday saw Brent crude oil gain 3.1% to settle at $116.72 a barrel, one of its highest levels since late April.
In contrast, the gold price plummeted to a three-month low, slipping 0.6% to close at $3,998.49, breaking beneath the $4,000 threshold.
At close on Friday, 23 October, the rand was trading at R16.59 against the US dollar, R18.59 against the euro, and R22.19 against the British pound.
Important finance and investing news
Calls for more petrol and diesel price relief: Political parties, including MK and ActionSA, have called on the National Treasury to extend its temporary fuel price relief to February 2027. This comes after the Finance Minister announced R10 billion in relief that will stretch from November to January. [EWN]
US airline in serious trouble: A group of JetBlue‘s senior creditors is working with a financial adviser and law firm. This comes as the airline contends with cash burn and elevated oil prices, with its bonds down sharply this week. [Wall Street Journal]
France’s lucky break: Despite growing turmoil in its bond market, France has been spared a credit rating downgrade by Moody’s. The global ratings firm held the country’s rating steady, while noting that the outlook remains negative. [New York Times]
Investors flee to safety: US Treasuries have benefited from a flight to safety amid growing concerns about the health of the AI sector. Rising oil prices have also dampened market sentiment, pushing investors to safe-haven assets. [Semafor]
13,041 pension fund complaints in one year: The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator saw the highest number of complaints in its history in the 2026 financial year. This is partly due to the two-pot scheme implemented in 2024. [BusinessDay]
