Over the past year, we have written extensively about how US President Donald Trump is remaking the American economy and reshaping the world order. An unintended consequence of his America-first economic policy and his transactional outlook on foreign affairs may be to help accelerate China’s rise as an economic superpower in the years to come.…
Major indices worldwide entered a holding pattern this week, trading more or less flat following a volatile November. The Nasdaq (+0.6% at the time of writing), S&P 500 (+0.12%), and the Dow Jones Industrial Index (+0.28%) are largely unchanged for the month-to-date, despite a sell-off followed by a sharp snapback in November. After the AI-related…
US markets have bounced back from last week’s drop, posting their best four-day winning streak since May, to get back to being close to flat for the month, after dropping quite sharply in the first three weeks. Investors showed renewed appetite for risk this week, with the S&P 500 up 3.18%, the Nasdaq up 4.23%,…
Markets this week continued to puzzle over whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) related stocks are overvalued and whether a correction is imminent. The release of Nvidia’s blowout third-quarter results, an important sentiment barometer for the sector, has not settled the debate. Equities slumped last week as concerns about an AI bubble surfaced. Weakness carried through to…
South African markets basked in good news this week, with traders reacting positively to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday. The JSE All-Share Index continued its hot run, climbing 3.3% for the week at the time of writing. The rand, meanwhile, briefly strengthened to below R17 to the dollar, a…
Fears that Artificial Intelligence (AI) stocks are in a bubble reemerged this week as a few prominent American CEOs and various market commentators suggested that valuations are becoming overheated. Notably, Michael Burry, an investor who wagered on a US housing market crash in the run-up to the Global Financial Crisis, has placed a $1.1 billion…
Markets were lifted by a range of tailwinds this week. Positive talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping boosted hopes that trade tensions would ease. Markets also welcomed a second interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve, although this was already largely priced in. But the single most important factor…
Precious metals prices corrected sharply this week amid market optimism about easing trade tensions between China and the US, as well as traders locking in profits following months of strong gains. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium saw steep losses early in the week before stabilising by Thursday and dipping again on Friday in a week…
US equities have experienced another week of helter-skelter trading, repeating the pattern of recoveries and sell-offs we have seen several times this year. The S&P 500 fell 2.7% and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 3.6% last Friday in one of the worst days of trading since US President Donald Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs back…
