Breaking News Today – Wednesday 4 March 2026

Business News Today 

VC Funding Hits Record High in February

Global venture capital (VC) investment hit a total of $189 billion in February making it the largest startup funding month on record. Despite the large amount invested, 83% of capital raised was directed at just three companies according the latest Crunchbase Data. OpenAI led the pack raising $110 billion alone in February, followed by Anthropic at $30 billion and Waymo raising $16 billion.

A further four companies each raised $1 billion or more last month: Tokyo-based semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus; London-based self-driving platform Wayve; San Francisco-based AI for robotics World Labs; and Sunnyvale, California-based AI semiconductor company Cerebras Systems. Send funding however dropped by 11% Y-O-Y with only $2.6 billion in total raised.

South Africa Seeking Private Bond Broker

National Treasury Director-General Duncan Pieterse has confirmed that South Africa is looking to appoint independent private sector partners to improve and broaden government bond sales to the global retail market. One of the goals is to drive down the cost of bond sales by relying less on institutional investors and reducing the size of weekly bond auctions. South Africa raises around $183 million via bond sales per annum with Pieterse claiming that this could be increased significantly with current bond availability. This he believes will reduce dependence on  fixed-rate bonds and inflation-linked bonds thereby “compressing yields and decreasingInterest rates” creating lower debt repayments longer term. The appointment of a private sector partner, is according to Pieterse, expected to be finalised by February next year, aligning with the new budget year.

White House Big Tech Meeting Today

US President Donald Trump will be hosting leading AI and data-centre players, with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Anthropic and others expected to attend. The meeting is aiming to formalise pledges on curbing power costs and consumption from exploding AI demand and cloud computing infrastructure. This builds on Trump’s push for tech firms to build or supply their own energy power plants, aimed at shielding consumers from rising electricity prices tied to massive data-centre builds.

South African Rand Under Pressure

The South African rand weakened further to around 16.6 per USD yesterday, the lowest since late December, amid heightened risk aversion triggered by the escalating tensions in the Middle East. Investors continued to assess the potential impact of a prolonged war on the global economy, including implications for inflation and interest rates. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) now faces a challenging task as higher oil prices linked to the conflict add inflationary pressure.

The outlook for South Africa’s interest rates has become more uncertain as the escalating Middle East conflict fuels volatility in oil prices, the currency and global financial markets, raising doubts over whether the SARB will move forward with additional rate cuts this year. Market pricing, now points to some chance of a rate hike at the March 26 meeting, marking a sharp shift from strong expectations of a cut just days ago, while anticipated easing for the rest of the year has been scaled back significantly.

Breaking News Shorts:  

• Tech infrastructure hit as U.S as the Iran conflict intensifies, with drone strikes damaging Amazon (AWS) data centres in the UAE and Bahrain, disrupting banking and payments services in the region. Nvidia and Amazon temporarily closed their Dubai offices with Google employees reportedly stranded.
• China’s RatingDog General Manufacturing PMI climbed to 52.1 in February 2026 from 50.3 in January, the highest since December 2020 and marking a third straight month of growth in factory activity. Output rose the most since June 2024, and new orders increased for a ninth month
• The Indian rupee slipped to around 92 per dollar, marking its lowest level on record, as soaring global oil prices and a strong US dollar weighed on the currency. Brent crude climbed above $85 amid US-Israeli strikes on Iran, raising fears of supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for India’s oil and LNG imports.
• Hong Kong equities plunged 662 points, or 2.6%, to 25,098 in Wednesday morning trade, marking a third straight decline and nearing an 11-week low. A sharp drop in U.S. stock futures burdened sentiment, as fears mounted that a wider Middle East crisis could trigger an energy shock, and stoke inflation
• The South African Public Investment Corporation (PIC), that manages over R2.5 trillion in assets, primarily for public sector entities like the Government Employees Pension Fund(GEPF) and other state funds, has reportedly called in turnaround specialists for its financially troubled R120bn Isibaya portfolio, that has seen impairments mounting, with CEO Dlamini focusing on stabilisation
• The S&P Global Egypt PMI fell to 48.9 in February 2026 from 49.8 in January. This marked the second consecutive month of contraction and the fastest pace since September 2025, with all five sub-components of the PMI pointing to deteriorating business conditions. 

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar continuing to strengthen and trading stronger against major currencies today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.15910 while trading against the Pound at 1.33174. The Yen is currently trading at 157.61 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) is currently trading at around R16.58 against the US dollar.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are rising today, up by over 1.3% this morning, and currently trading at around $5159.33 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending 1.29% higher today, with prices currently around $5.8455 per pound
• Silver futures are currently surging and over 3% higher today, currently trading at around $84.454 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are trending around 3.3% higher this morning, and currently trading at $2142.10, While Palladium prices are trending 3.1% higher this morning, and currently trading around $1717.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices have hit an 18-month high and are up by over 2.4% today, with prices currently at $83.40 with WTI trading at $76.10
• Cocoa futures have clawed back to above the $3000 mark, and currently trading around $3015 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are currently trending -0.7% lower today, and trading at around $2.8250 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are down marginally this morning, and trading at around $68186 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are also down by around -0.4% today, and currently trading around $1974.74
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading around $3.350

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H50 Central African Time) 

Africa News Briefs:

• A new online campaign is promoting South African billionaire and entrepreneur, Patrice Motsepe as the next head of the African National Congress (ANC). South Africa’s next general election will only be held in 2029, three years ahead, however but the race for succession has already started. The African National Congress, now part of a coalition government, after failing to achieve an outright majority, will choose a successor to Cyril Ramaphosa, who is reaching the end of his second and final presidential term.  Motsepe (64), is also the head of the Confederation of African Football association (CAF) and a leading businessman, may be a popular candidate.
• Emergency teams are recovering victims after a migrant boat capsized off the coast near Derna, between Al-Tamimi and Umm Al-Razm in Libya, Highlighting the dangers of the Central Mediterranean migration route.Saleh Jumaa Al-Mahjoub, a member of the Libyan Red Crescent, said 12 bodies have been recovered so far in the Qasr Al-Akhyar and Ghanima areas. Search operations are ongoing as authorities work to determine how many people were on board when the vessel went down.