Business & Tech News
Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi Merger Talks Announced:
Honda and Nissan announced on Monday that they were discussing a potential merger, with Mitsubishi Motors, which currently holds a 34% stake in Nissan, also potentially looking at joining the merger deal. Should the merger deal proceed, the combined entity could be valued above $50 billion, based on the market valueation of all three manufacturers. Honda shares surged more than 16% in trade this morning (24 Dec) as the Japanese auto giant announced an up to 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion) share buyback. The share is currently up by 12%
The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Nissan’s share shed as much as 7% today but has subsequently bounced back up to prices last seen in September this year before their announcement of major job cuts and possible manufacturing plant closures that had seen their share price plunge.
xAI Raises $6 Billion:
xAI, the AI start-up founded by SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, announced yesterday (23 Dec) that it had raised $6 billion in a series-C funding round, which included participation from Nvidia and AMD. The latest round puts xAI’s valuation above $40 billion, according to multiple market valuations, and comes after a series B funding round earlier this year which also raised $6 billion. Participants in this funding round included venture capitalist majors including a16z, Sequoia, Kingdom Holdings, Blackrock and Morgan Stanley. The company aims to compete with major AI firms such as OpenAI with its Grok AI model. Musk was an early funder of OpenAI and has criticised the change in its non-profit status as a betrayal of those who funded its start-up.
Apple Approaching $4 Trillion Valuation:
The global tech giant, Apple is heading towards a historic $4 trillion stock market valuation, pushed by investors acknowledging progress in the mobile phone company’s long-awaited AI enhancements that are anticipated to to rejuvenate sluggish iPhone sales. Apple has moved ahead of Nvidia and Microsoft in the race to the monumental milestone, thanks to an about 16% jump in share price since early November that has added about $500 billion to its market capitalization. The latest rally in Apple shares reflects investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and an expectation that it will result in a surge of iPhone upgrades in the new year. Valued at around $3.85 trillion as of the last close, Apple on its own now is valued more than the combined value of Germany and Switzerland’s main stock markets in total.
Market News
Markets:
Indices in the US, mostly closed in negative territory for the second consecutive session yesterday with the NASDAQ closing down by –0,47%, the S&P 500 was down -0,09% and the Dow Jones closing slightly up by 0,04%. Asian markets this morning have seen Nikkei close down by -0,2% and is at 38736 currently, while the Hang Seng is down by -0,56% and is at 19752,51 currently.
Currencies:
The US Dollar is currently trading at 1.039 against the Euro, at 1,253 against the Pound, and at 156,96 against the Yen. The Rand value dropped further yesterday, with the currency currently trading at R18,56 to the US dollar.
Commodities:
- Gold has held above the $2600 mark, with the price currently at $2,620 per ounce
- Platinum prices have gained some momentum again this morning, and is currently trading at $949.50 an regaining some of its losses this month, while Palladium have also seen better prices and at $923.00 currently
- Brent crude is currently trading at $73.03 currently with WTI trading at $69.58 currently.
- Cocoa has seen a plateauing of prices, and is currently selling at $11,582 per ton.
- Coffee prices have also leveled and is at $3.25 per pound currently.
Crypto Currencies:
- Bitcoin remained below $100,000, and has lost 11% in value this week, and is currently trading at $94400
- Ether also saw prices drop by over 12% this week and is trading at $3412.66 currently
(All prices quoted at approximately 07H50 – Central African Time)
Other News in Africa Today
Election Chaos in Mozambique Continues:
The Constitutional court in Mozambique has upheld the governing party’s win in the October presidential election following weeks of opposition protests in which over 100 people have been reported to have died.
The finding of the court, stated that it believed irregularities in the election “did not substantially influence the results” and that Daniel Chapo with the governing party, Frelimo, won with 65.17% of the vote, while opposition politician Venâncio Mondlane received 24.29% of the vote. The court revised the initial results that had stated that d Chapo received 70%. There had been widespread criticism of the results by independent election observers with some reports also emerging that Zimbabwean nationals had voted in the election. Yesterday saw the supporters of
Mondlane’s taking to the streets in protest, particularly in the capital, Maputo, where there were scenes of burning tires and road blockades. Mondlane had challenged the election results, accusing Frelimo of rigging the vote.
He threatened chaos if the Constitutional Court declared Chapo the winner and has called for a “shutdown” starting Friday.
Sudan Refugee and Cholera Crises:
While many across the globe will be celebrating Christmas this week, South Sudan is currently facing a “completely overwhelming” influx of refugees from war-torn Sudan as well as a rapidly growing cholera epidemic, according to an announcement from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) yesterday (23 Dec). The group said that around 5,000 people were busy crossing the border every day while th United Nations (UN) recently indicated the figure to be even higher at 7,000 to 10,000 a day. Sudan is in the midst of one of the worst global humanitarian emergencies since conflict broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced. Renk town, is an emergency transit centre holding some 17,000 people, according to the UN, said they were working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide care. South Sudan is itself not able to deal with its own homeless situation let alone assisting with refugees from war-torn Sudan, with the young country itself battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters. Huge numbers of its own citizens are living in camps for internally displaced people, and many now face an “alarming and rapid increase” in cholera cases, MSF said. Reports are now indicating that 92 people had died following an outbreak of cholera in Unity state, and that it had treated over 1,210 people in just four weeks in Bentiu city.
