Breaking News Today – Monday 16 March 2026

Business News Today 

Developer “Super Bowl” Conference Kicks-Off Today

Nvidia’s GTC 2026 conference, the “Super Bowl of AI” begins in San Jose today with Nvidia’s Jensen Huang’s keynote address highly anticipated. This is set to be a 2-hour address focused on the “next generation of AI,” covering the full stack (chips, software, models, applications). It will include a teaser video and heavy emphasis on physical AI, agentic AI, inference, plus the development of AI factories.Investors are keenly watching for new chip announcements, AI roadmap updates, and signals on compute demand amid recent tech sector pullbacks and the event could set the tone for tech related markets this week.

Anticipated is the reveal of the Feynman Architecture — A brand-new chip/GPU architecture (described by Jensen as “a mystery chip the world has never seen before”) with a focus on agentic AI and inference. Also expect a reveal of NemoClaw, this is an open-source platform for building and deploying enterprise AI agents (autonomous software that handles multi-step tasks). Nemoclaw would enable companies run millions of agents 24/7 and is seen as Nvidia’s push into the orchestration layer beyond pure GPUs.

American Indices Under Pressure

US equities finished in the red after a rough week last Friday, with all ending lower with the S&P 500 down 0.6%, the Dow losing 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 shedding 0.7% as they struggled to maintain their footing amid the intensifying regional conflict and persistent energy market volatility. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth signalled a further escalation on Friday by announcing the largest wave of US strikes against Iranian targets, cementing the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and stoked fears of a prolonged “stagflationary” global environment.

This pressure drove investors toward the dollar, pushing major benchmarks toward a third straight week of losses while high energy costs forced markets to reprice 2026 rate expectations. Bond yields climbed despite weak Q4 GDP, heavily pressuring credit-sensitive sectors. Software giants led the indices decline, notably Adobe plunging 7.6% after a profit guidance miss and CEO departure, while Meta, Palantir, and Oracle dropped between 3.8% and 1.7%.

Oil Prices Are Lifting Rapidly – Risks for Inflationary Pressures in African States

Brent crude futures have risen to above $104 per barrel this morning, the highest level for oil futures since July 2022, following US strikes on military sites on Kharg Island. This as the Middle East conflict entered its third week. US President Donald Trump also warned that Iran’s energy infrastructure on the island, which handles roughly 90% of the country’s oil exports, could be targeted if Tehran interferes with transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf with global markets has remained effectively shut since the conflict began, with Iran’s new supreme leader pledging last week to keep the strait closed if hostilities continue.

Meanwhile, traders assessed reports that the US will soon announce a coalition of countries to escort ships through the waterway. The prices highlight pressure on global supply, the IEA said Sunday that oil from last week’s record 400-million-barrel reserve release will be made available immediately in Asia. Importers in Africa such as South Africa and Congo, will be facing the potential of balance-of-payments hits, and currency devaluations (Burundi franc, Malawi kwacha are most at risk), as well as higher inflation pressures with fuel price hike on the cards in these regions very likely..

PGM’s See Price Dip

Platinum Futures dipped over -5.7% last Friday and loses the week off -4.65% lower. Platinum closed at approximately $2,036–$2,067/oz, down -123 points on the day. While there was no platinum-specific news (no major supply surprise, strike, or demand shock) driving the drop-off, it was part of a broad precious-metals sell-off triggered by macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, such as the escalating Middle East conflict with Iran stepping up attacks on oil facilities and transport, and a stronger US dollar and rising Treasury yields: A firmer dollar makes dollar-denominated metals more expensive for foreign buyers. The precious metal is clawing back some losses this morning and currently trading around the 2050 mark.

Breaking Business and Market News Shorts:  

• Botswana’s annual inflation rate edged down to 4% in February 2026 from 4.1% in January, which was the steepest since June 2023. Prices slowed down a bit for some CPI items, including food & non-alcoholic beverages 
• SAA, the South African national airline carrier, has become the first major African commercial airline to formally integrate bitcoin payments directly into its reservation system. Passengers can now book flights on the SAA website or mobile app by selecting “crypto” as the payment option at checkout. This was made possible in partnership with fintech group Ozow and Money Badger.
• China’s new home prices across 70 cities dropped 3.2% year-on-year in February 2026, following a 3.1% decline in the previous month. The latest data marked the 32nd consecutive month of contraction and the steepest drop since last June last year.
• The week ahead will be a flurry of business and financial news with key events that includes the US Federal reserve and Bank of Canada’s interest rate decisions, US PPI data, and earnings from Micron, DocuSign, Lululemon, all to be released against backdrop of Iran war volatility and potential oil shocks.
• Standard Bank has reported record earnings and board member remuneration with the South African unit driving a 16% profit growth while the top eight bank executives earned more than a cumulative R500 million in 2025. Growth was built on on fee income and client gains; overall strategy paying off amid economic revival efforts.
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.2% to below 53,200 while the broader Topix Index lost 0.7% to 3,600 this morning, with Japanese shares remaining under pressure as investors continued to grapple with Middle East uncertainty and volatile oil prices

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar trading marginally lower against major currencies today. The Greenback is trading against the Euro at 1.14429 while trading against the Pound at 1.32533. The Yen is currently trading at 159.55 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) continues to fall against the dollar, and currently trading at R16.86 against the US dollar.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are fairly even this morning, and currently trading slightly lower at around $5014.00 per ounce after a drop off on Friday.  
• Copper prices are trending slightly lower today, with prices currently around $5.7050 per pound
• Silver futures are trending over -0.5% lower today, and currently trading at around $80.070 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are trending 0.3% higher this morning, and currently trading at $2048.60, While Palladium prices are trending -0.3 lower this morning, and currently trading around $1574.00 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are surging and up by over 1.5% this morning to above the $104 mark, with prices currently at $104.70 with WTI trading at $94.76 – up by over 8% today.
• Cocoa futures are marginally lower this morning, and currently trading around $3298 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are trending over -2.3% lower today, and trading at around $2.8515 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are trending around 1.58% higher this morning, and trading at around $73 930 per coin currently 
• Ether prices have surged by around 4.1% higher today, and currently trading around $2268.33
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading higher at around $4.037

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H10 Central African Time) 

African General News Briefs:

• Polling stations in the Republic of Congo closed last night, following a day of voting in elections that are widely expected to ‌extend incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s decades-long rule. Sassou Nguesso first led Congo-Brazzaville under a one-party system from 1979 to 1992 before losing the first multi-party elections, whose winner he then overthrew in a civil war in 1997.The 82-year-old faced off against a weak field of challengers with two of the country’s best‑known opposition leaders in prison and several parties boycotting the vote. Voter turnout could reach a record low, largely reflecting the lack of suspense over the poll’s outcome.
• Flooding in Kenya has seen the loss of four more lives, after heavy rain continued to cause widespread flooding over the weekend, according to police reports. This brings the number who have died from the floods in the past week to around 66. The capital, Nairobi, was hit by more heavy rain overnight although no new deaths were reported. Eleven people were rescued after a minibus taxi, got stuck as water rose in Nairobi, according to the Kenya’s Red Cross, while two children were saved from a flooded house.