Business & Tech News
Global Tech Stocks Spiking:
This week has seen several Tech Giant’s share prices spike with Meta hitting a two-week long growth after a dip last month when the Chinese DeepSeek AI was launched. The stock prices have grown by over 53% in the last year and by almost 18% in the past month with almost a 3% growth in the past week. Not to be outdone, US chip manufacturer Intel has seen its shares gain as much as 5% yesterday, building on top of their 6% gain on Tuesday. Intel stock is up 13% so far this week. This was counter to the trend in other chip makers shares such as Nvidia and Broadcom.
While Intel’s share price is down over 50% in the last year, compared to Nvidia’s gain of 82% in that time, this would be a welcome sign for shareholders. In support of the price growth Vice President JD Vance has voiced support for more chip manufacturing to take place in the US at the Paris Artificial Intelligence Action Summit this week. Tesla also saw its share price jump by 2,2% yesterday
European Share Spike Expected After Trump Calls Putin over Ukraine War:
US President Donald Trump has said he had a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in which the leaders agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he and the Russian president had “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately”. Later yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Trump about a “lasting, reliable peace”.
The result has been that this will see European equity markets set for a strong opening on today with new data showing that the UK’s economy grew by more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2024 on an annual and on a quarterly basis, while earnings reports are also expected from major companies such as Commerzbank, Nestlé, and Siemens. In premarket trading, Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 futures were up 1% and 0.7%, respectively.
South32 Announces Massive Profit Growth:
South32 U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on aluminium are more likely to be part of a bargaining strategy than a long-term policy of his administration, said CEO Graham Kerr of Australian mining and metals group, South32 on Thursday. South32, while based in Australia, produces aluminium in Brazil, South Africa and Mozambique, and sells a portion of its South African production to U.S. markets. Their financial results for the half year, beat analysts’ estimates for the half year, with South32 reporting a massive profit jump of over 9000% in first-half profit to $375 million, up from $40 million a year earlier. This has been largely driven by higher aluminium and copper sales and strong commodity prices.
Kerr commented on the recently imposed US aluminium tariffs on an investor conference call that; “The challenge, I guess, with all the tariffs is how long does it last… To me, it’s a negotiation rather than a long term policy,” he commented. President Trump has been introducing various tariffs and tariff increases as a means of negotiating desired outcomes across a number of regions globally.
Japan and Hong Kong Indices see growth Spike
Asian Markets are showing positive growth today with The Nikkei 225 Index surging by 1.28% to close at 39,461, while the broader Topix Index gained 1.18% to 2,766 earlier today, marking a second consecutive session of gains. The softer yen position has improved the profit outlook for Japan’s export-driven industries and makes Japanese assets more attractive to foreign investors. Additionally, a strong corporate earnings season helped boost market sentiment.
Notable performances came from index heavyweights, including IHI Corp (+3.6%), Advantest (+3.1%), Mitsubishi UFJ (+1.9%), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (+2.9%), and Lasertec (+12%). Hong Kong’s equities also surged by 283 points, or 1.3%, to 22,140 in early trading on Thursday, marking the second day of gains and holding at their highest in four months. Most sectors rose, buoyed by optimism over a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia after phone calls between US President Trump, Russian President Putin, and Ukrainian leader Zelenskiy.
Markets by Numbers
Currencies:
The US Dollar has weakened slightly and is currently trading at 1.04195 against the Euro, at 1.24954 against the Pound, and slightly stronger against the Yen at 154.28 Yen to the dollar currently. The rand has strengthened this morning and is trading below the R18.50 level and is currently at R18.47 to the dollar.
Commodities:
- Gold prices dropped below the $2900 level, with the yellow metal trading at $2,891 currently. Copper is trading upwards at 4.6972 currently. Silver is also trading upwards, and at 32.263 currently.
- Platinum prices are gaining above the $1020 level today, and currently trading upwards at $1046.30, up over 3% for the week, while Palladium prices have gained today but remain just below the $1000 mark and currently trading at $994
- Brent Oil prices are trading 1% lower at $74.42 currently with WTI also trading lower at $70.66 currently.
- Cocoa futures have levelled this morning, with prices currently at $10056 per ton.
- Coffee prices have seen a new high with the beans reaching an all-time high of $430.26
Crypto Currencies:
- Bitcoin has seen a further growth this morning, and is currently trading at $96000.
- Ether prices have remained in the $2600 range and are at $2669 currently.
- $Trumpcoin has seen a slight improvement and currently trading at $15.53
(All prices quoted at approximately 10H00 – Central African Time)
Other News in Africa Today
South African Delegations Planned to Visit the US:
The ANC, and its governing coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance are both planning to send delegations to the US, in an effort to resolve the current impasse between the countries. This week President Donald Trump announced the removal of all aid to South Africa due to the land expropriation act, and other newly passed bills that the US views as anti-democratic that have been passed by President Ramaposa. In addition, the ICJ court case that the ANC government has taken against US ally Israel as well as the demand from Pretoria that Taiwan remove its Embassy is seen as positioning the country as anti-American interests.
America is currently the second largest trading partner for the Southern African nation and removal of trade benefits is set to damage the country economically. American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has cancelled his trip to attend the G20 meeting in Johannesburg next week citing that he cannot support a government that is involved with bad policies.
Homeless Victims in DRC Plight Continues:
Reports out of war-torn Eastern Congo by the UN, have indicated that Rwanda-backed rebels controlling military captured cities in eastern Congo have forcibly closed refugee settlement camps, leading to the displacement of more than 110,000 people. The M23 rebels — the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east, have issued a 72-hour ultimatum to displaced people to leave settlement camps and return to their villages. The rebels’ advance into Goma has killed at least 2,000 people in and around the city, and displaced tens of thousands who fled the cities and towns during the various attacks on these areas. the U.N.’s humanitarian aid coordination agency, OCHA said this was the latest action taken by the rebels after they announced that their priority was to restart normal activities in the city.
