Business News Today
Foxcon An OpenAI in Major Tech Partnership Deal
Taiwan’s electronics giant Foxconn and OpenAI have signed a partnership agreement to design and manufacture key equipment for artificial intelligence data centres in the U.S. as part of ambitious plans to grow American AI infrastructure. Foxconn, who manufactures AI servers for Nvidia and assembles Apple products including the iPhone, will be co-designing and developing AI data centre racks with OpenAI under the agreement, the companies said in separate statements last week. Under the agreement, Foxconn will manufacture cabling, networking and power systems for AI data centres in its U.S. facilities. OpenAI will have “early access” to evaluate and potentially to purchase them.
BHP Withdraws From Anglo Deal
BHP has pulled out of a last-ditch effort to buy Anglo American to entrench its dominance in copper mining. This comes only weeks before shareholders at Anglo and Canada’s Teck Resources were set to vote on a $60 billion tie-up. This morning, BHP said it was no longer pursuing a potential combination with Anglo after preliminary discussions with Anglo’s board, in a release to Australia’s securities exchange after news broke of the talks late on Sunday. Anglo’s shares have gained around 15% this year, while BHP’s have lifted by 2%. Shares of BHP rose by 0.4% this morning.
Mantengu Gag Order on Share Manipulation to be Appealed
The Johannesburg High Court has ordered mining group Mantengu and its CEO Mike Miller to cease publishing allegations that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), its directors, or employees were involved in wrongdoing relating to the manipulation of its shares. Miller originally went public with the claims of share price manipulation in February 2024, accusing several individuals of trying to depress its share price and disrupt its business expansion plans. It also levelled accusations at senior individuals within the JSE, which has denied any wrong-doing.
The JSE says Mantengu and Miller continued to repeat these allegations, forcing it to approach the court for relief. Last Friday, the matter was struck off the urgent roll and will now be heard on the normal roll, likely to be in 2026. The interdict applies until that hearing takes place. Mantengu Mining said it would appeal the order, saying the judge erred in making an order on the merits of the case.
Chinese Share Slump
The Shanghai Composite dropped by 0.2% to below 3,830, while the Shenzhen Component lost 0.4% to 12,490 this morning, with mainland stocks hitting multi-month lows as Chinese tech gorups and chipmakers came under fresh pressure, following reports that the US is considering allowing Nvidia to sell H200 AI chips to China. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been lobbying the Trump administration for relief from export controls that have opened Chinese markets to competitors. Major decliners included FoxConn Industrial (-8%), Suzhou TFC Optical (-2%) and Cambricon Technologies (-2%). New energy shares also extended losses, with Do Fluoride New Materials down 3.3%, Guangzhou Tinci Materials off 4.8% and Ganfeng Lithium falling 8.9%. Chinese stocks underperformed other Asian markets, despite a broad rebound in markets.
Breaking News Shorts:
- American retail giant Walmart, opened its first retail store in South Africa on Saturday, marking the U.S. retail major’s debut on the African continent as it seeks a stake in a competitive market. Hundreds of shoppers queued for hours outside the store to take advantage of Walmart’s “Everyday Low Prices”. The 3,500 m² store offers groceries, fashion, electronics, and a new Walmart app offers a with 60-minute delivery service for purchases within a 5 km range.
- The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Minister of State Saeed Bin Mubarak Al Hajeri, announced a $1 billion investment to expand AI infrastructure and AI-enabled services across Africa, with the aim of helping countries meet national development priorities. Al Hajeri announced the “AI for development initiative” at the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg over the weekend,
- The South Korean won depreciated to around 1,472 today, approaching its lowest level in more than seven months, as market sentiment remained pressured by concerns of continued capital outflows. The currency’s weakness has also been reflected in its real effective exchange rate, which dropped to 89.09 in October, marking its lowest level in roughly 16 years.
- Gold prices fell -0.43% to around $4,040 per ounce this morning, extending Friday’s drop-off, as investors awaited more US economic data for clearer signals on the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook. Attention will mainly be on September’s retail sales and PPI figures due on Tuesday, along with weekly jobless claims on Wednesday.
Markets by Numbers
Currency markets indicate a flat trade in US dollar today, with the Euro trading against the US dollar at 1.15239 while the Pound is trading at 1.31036 to the US dollar. The Yen is currently trading at 156.54 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) is currently at R17.35 to the US dollar.
Commodities:
- Gold futures have dropped by -0.3% today, and are currently trading around $4046.00 per ounce.
- Copper prices are trending upwards today, with prices currently around $5.000
- Silver futures prices are fairly flat this morning, and currently trading around $49.995
- Platinum futures have gained over 1% this morning, and currently trading at $1525.60, While Palladium prices are 1% up this morning and are currently trading around $1395.00 per ounce.
- Brent crude oil prices have dropped today, and currently at $62.52 with WTI trading lower at $58.01
- Cocoa futures are flat this morning, and currently trading around $5083.11 per ton.
- Coffee futures are over -1% lower this morning, and are currently trading at around $3.9574 per pound
Crypto Currencies:
- Bitcoin prices are gaining momentum this morning, and trading at around $87464 per coin currently
- Ether prices are trending over 2% higher today, and are currently trading around $2866.98
- $Trumpcoin are trending lower today, and currently trading around $6.337
(All prices quoted at approximately 07H45 Central African Time)
Africa News Briefs:
- South Africa’s trade minister Parks Tau commented yesterday that he expected negotiations with the U.S. over a trade deal would continue, despite differences between the two countries over this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg. US president, Donald Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imports from South Africa in August, which could see the barely growing economy shed thousands of jobs.
- The South African National Roads Agency Sanral, are in Court over tender irregularities. Last week saw its chair, Themba Mhambi claim in court papers, that an initial regional bid evaluation committee (RBEC) recommendation in November 2024, had seen the Base Major-China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) JV be awarded the R1.57 billion Masekwaspoort tender irregularly. the tender had “inexplicably” again been placed before the bid adjudication committee (BAC) without the revised bid evaluation committee (BEC) recommendation, due diligence (DD) report, legal assurance report or draft audit report.
