Just in time for the festive season, November 2025 brought the economic gifts South African investors had long anticipated. In a series of positive developments, the country achieved its first sovereign rating upgrade in two decades, set its first monetary policy target change in a quarter-century, and saw the JSE surge to all-time highs, driven…
Gold broke through the psychologically significant $4 000-per-ounce barrier, surging over 25% and trading above $4 300 in late October. This rally represents a fundamental shift in how global investors view wealth preservation in an increasingly uncertain world. The gold price’s record rally has been driven by a perfect storm of factors: President Trump’s aggressive…
September was an eventful month for central banks. The long-awaited rate-cutting cycle finally got underway in the US, but back home, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) surprised markets by holding rates steady. These diverging paths tell us a lot about the economic dynamics driving these economies. They also hint at the differing degrees of…
When President Trump’s 30% tariffs on South African goods took effect on 1 August, many analysts braced for a market meltdown. Instead, the JSE All-Share Index hardly moved on the day and went on to climb from around 98 500 to 101 859 at the time of writing – a solid 3.5% gain during the…
While President Trump’s unpredictable trade policies are continuing to create global market volatility, emerging market equities have attracted attention this year as investors embrace them as a welcome diversifier from the uncertainty and volatility of US-centric investments. The MSCI Emerging Market equity index is up almost 18% year-to-date, with foreign investors pouring money into India,…
2025’s perfect storm began with President Trump exhibiting his trademark unpredictability, announcing sweeping tariffs that sent markets into a tailspin in April. When tariff fears peaked in April, the S&P 500 sold off as much as 17.8%, while the Nasdaq suffered an even steeper 23.4% decline from its highs. Oil futures fell to four-year lows…
“The only certainty is that nothing is certain.” (Pliny the Elder) For decades, US Treasuries (government bonds) and the US dollar have been the world’s primary safe-haven assets. Investors have been able to rely on them to hold their value due to America’s status as the world’s leading democracy, with deep, liquid markets and a…
April was characterised by intense market upheaval as President Trump set what UBS economist Paul Donovan describes as an erratic “threaten-retreat-threaten-retreat” cycle in motion. Trump’s reversal of previous extreme policy decisions highlighted that economic realities are beginning to constrain the administration’s actions. Now you see it, now you don’t tariff turmoil On April 2, “Liberation…
Since returning to office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has implemented a sweeping series of tariff measures – the latest of which is a 30% tariff on South African exports to the US. These decisions have sent shockwaves throughout the global economy and created significant market uncertainty. At the latest SA Reserve Bank meeting,…
Europe and South Africa have turned the tables on the US stock market, outperforming them in February and year-to-date due to signs of a slowing US economy, trade policy uncertainty and a rotation out of tech stocks. Trump-related investor optimism has dissipated, leaving the US stock market in the red since he took office. While…