Business & Tech News
Meta Apps Crash:
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp saw its apps crash last night, affecting users across the globe, with reports of problems in using the Apps coming from the UK, parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the US. According to Downdetector, the online tech monitoring site, they recorded over 22 000 complaints from users and they said that the outages started around 18:00 GMT on Wednesday night (11 Dec). While some have reported that the issues have been resolved it is uncertain that all services to all areas have been restored yet. WhatsApp announced that their service was back online in a statement on X, where they apologised to users for the down-time experienced.
US Bull Run Lifts the Nasdaq to new High:
The Nasdaq Composite Index hit 20,000 for the first time on Wednesday (11 Dec), completing a high-adrenalin year for the Tech Index that has been producing record gains in some of the major tech stocks amidst big expectations in AI and large stock price surges with companies such as Nvidia, Apple , Alphabet, and Tesla. The tech-heavy index is up more than 33% on the year, driven by a cluster of giant technology-focused companies gaining further momentum after a U.S. inflation report that cemented expectations of a Fed rate cut next week.
According to Tom Lee, of FundStrat, the market analysts, the US S&P stock market could rise as much as 16% from current levels in the first half of the year in 2025, according to their latest market outlook report.
Tesla Takes Top Honours for Q4
The Magnificient Seven, the top mega Tech Stocks in the US market that include Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Nvidia, have had a varied success in share prices in Q4 2024. Meta has seen a 6,1% growth while Nvidia, despite all the hype around it’s AI processor chips has eked out but 0,2% growth for the Quarter. In comparison Alphabet has gained 14% with Amazon has gaining over 21% in price, with the market pushing Tesla stock to almost record highs and dwarfing the rest of its peers with a 68% growth in share price for the Quarter, as of today (12 Dec).
Market News
Markets: Indices in the US, closed mostly in positive territory yesterday with the NASDAQ closing up by 1,85%, the S&P 500 was up by 0,82% and the Dow Jones closing down by -0,22%.
Asian markets this morning have been trending upwards for the second day, with the Nikkei currently up by 1,33% and is at 39896 currently, while the Hang Seng is down by -0,77% and is at 20155.28 currently.
Currencies: The US Dollar is currently trading flat, and is at 1.051 against the Euro, at 1,277 against the Pound, and at 152,55 against the Yen. The Rand continued its gains against the Dollar yesterday after better than expected CPI data, with the currency currently trading at R17.66 to the US dollar.
Commodities:
- Gold breeched the technical 2700 level yesterday and has maintained above, with the price currently at $2,718.26 per ounce
- Platinum prices are trending upwards and currently trading at $954 and with Palladium prices dropping by almost 15% overnight and at $823 currently
- Brent crude is currently trading upwards at $73.73 with WTI trading at $70.38 currently.
- Cocoa prices have levelled off above the 8300 level and are currently trading at 8350 British pounds per ton currently
- Coffee prices have dropped by 4% from record price levels yesterday and is currently trading at $3.18 per pound.
Crypto Currencies:
- Bitcoin has moved back over the $100,000 mark and is currently trading at $100,582
- Ether is up by 2,71% today and trading at $3,937.54 currently
(All prices quoted at approximately 09H00 – Central African Time)
Other News in Africa Today
Historic Ethiopia and Somalia Agreement Announced:
Somalia and Ethiopia have agreed on a joint declaration to resolve their dispute over the breakaway Somaliland region and land-locked Ethiopia’s push for sea access. This follows after Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, held separate meetings with the leaders of Somalia and Ethiopia on Wednesday (11 Dec), as part of his efforts to resolve a dispute between the two Horn of Africa neighbours at odds over the breakaway Somaliland region.
At a joint news conference in Ankara, Erdogan thanked Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for their “historic reconciliation”. Erdogan said he hoped the deal would be “the first step towards a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia”, and would eventually ensure that Ethiopia – the most populous land-locked country in the world – gains sea access.
Tunisian Girl, 11, Survives Three-Day Sea Nightmare:
Compass-Collective, a sea rescue organisation based in the Mediterranean Sea, has rescued an 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone, who was found and rescued last night after three days at sea as the sole survivor of a shipwreck off Italy’s Lampedusa island. German based Compass-Collective said crew on its vessel were en route to another emergency when they heard shouting from the water and retrieved the girl at around 3 a.m. wearing a life jacket and hanging on to a pair of tyre tubes. She told them she had set off from the Tunisian city of Sfax in a metal boat carrying 45 people that sank in a storm. The rescued girl has been taken to Lampedusa in Italy where she received medical care, and has now been placed in a migrant holding centre and cared for by the Red Cross staff there.
The sea migration route between Tunisia, Libya, Italy and Malta is reported as one of the most dangerous in the world, with more than 24,300 disappeared or dying since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
