Breaking News Today – Monday 19 May 2025

Business & Tech News

Retail Sales & Home Prices down in China:

China’s retail sales increased by 5.1% year-on-year for April 2025, moderating from March’s 1-year high of 5.9% and missing market estimates of 5.5%. The slowdown comes amid weak domestic consumption, as households remained cautious due to economic uncertainty, sluggish income growth, and concerns over the impact of rising U.S. tariffs. There were widespread decreases in many categories including clothing, food and a sharp decrease in sports & entertainment, indicating belt tightening for consumers. Adding to the financial concerns, China’s new home prices in 70 cities shrank 4.0% year-on-year in April 2025, easing from a 4.5% decline in the previous month. While marking the 22nd consecutive month of price drops. The National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that, the foundation for China’s economic recovery “needs to be further consolidated” amid external uncertainties.

Nvidia’s New NVLink Set for Market Sale:

Nvidia has made an announcement today (19 May) that it plans to sell its newly version of its chip linking technology – NVLink, to other chip manufacturers. The new tech is a breakthrough that enables processor chips to be linked together, resulting in higher speeds of processing that is set to multiply chip-to-chip communication, a key component required to develop effective AI platforms for AI tools and agents. Nvidia launched a new version of its NVLink tech called NVLink Fusion this morning and will be looking to sell it to other chip designers to help build powerful custom AI systems with multiple chip chains. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made the announcement at the Computex AI exhibition in Taipei this morning.

US Credit Rating Downgrade:

Moody’s Credit Ratings has lowered the US credit rating one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, amid concerns over rising debt and interest payments. Moody’s followed Fitch Ratings in downgrading the nation to AA+ from AAA in 2023 and Standard & Poor’s in 2011. The agency said it expects federal debt to increase to around 134% of GDP by 2035, up from 98% last year. Meanwhile, the federal deficit is expected to widen, reaching nearly 9% of GDP by 2035, up from 6.4% in 2024. The surprise announcement has dampened stocks and futures, and the US dollar index fell slightly to around 100.7 this morning. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose toward 4.5% this morning, extending Friday’s rebound following the decision by Moody’s to downgrade the US government’s credit rating.

Xiaomi – Major Chip Investment announced:

Chinese smartphone and electric vehicle maker Xiaomi has announced this morning that it plans to invest at least $6.93 billion, in chip design over at least 10 years. This was stated by Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun in a post on social media platform Weibo. A Xiaomi representative confirmed to Reuters that the investment timeline starts from 2025. Xiaomi is preparing to launch the XRING 01, its first in-house smartphone chipset, later this month, marking a major step forward in the company’s long-term ambition to reduce reliance on third-party chipmakers. The new chip has been fully designed and developed by Xiaomi’s internal semiconductor division. Analysts also suggest that the proprietary silicon could benefit Xiaomi’s growing electric vehicle (EV) business by allowing for deeper hardware-software optimisation across its product range.

Indian Space Agency Satellite Launch Fails:

The Indian space agency’s mission to launch a new Earth observation satellite failed yesterday, after the launch vehicle encountered a technical issue during the third stage of flight, officials said . The EOS-09 Earth observation satellite took off on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on Sunday morning. “During the third stage … there was a fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case, and the mission could not be accomplished,” said V. Narayanan, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Orion Minerals Hits its Stride with Tail-Winds:

South African mining group, Orion Minerals can look forward to better performances, after it unveiled bankable feasibility studies of two projects in the Northern Cape. Prieska Copper Zinc Mine (PCZM) and Flat Mines that are set to produce 28,500 tons of copper a year, according to a statement released by the mining group, who’s share prics has been flagging for some time. With the current price of copper futures very positive, Orion is hoping to raise R8.9bn to fund both projects, in separate raises. PCZM consists of two stages with the shallower part of the orebody — known as the Upper Project — a starter project that Orion says can be built in 13 months for R550m.

Business, Tech & Market News Shorts:

• South African Mobile operator, Cell C may list soon, with holding group, Blue Label Telecoms, has said it may list mobile operator Cell C on the JSE as part of a broader restructuring of the group aimed at unlocking shareholder value. The shares of Blue Label have since surged. In a statement to shareholders on Friday, JSE-listed Blue Label said that should the listing of Cell C go ahead, it would be on the main board of the Johannesburg bourse.
• Shares on the Hong Kong Bourse, fell 103 points or 0.4% to 23,238 around noon on Monday, marking a third straight session of losses amid a tumble in U.S. futures following Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. Investors also digested China’s April activity data, where industrial output growth eased, while retail sales came in below forecasts.
• Gold rose above $3,220 per ounce today after its steepest weekly drop in six months, with appetite for safe-haven assets driven by growing concerns about the US economic outlook and budget deficit. Last week, bullion tumbled more than 3%, marking its worst weekly performance since November as increased risk appetite from the US-China trade deal weighed on the market.
• Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile operator that is owned by Britain’s Vodafone, said headline earnings per share rose by a disappointing 1.3% to 857 cents in the year ended March 31, up from 846 cents a year earlier, and declared a final dividend of 335 cents per share.

Markets by Numbers

Currencies:

Currency markets indicate the US Dollar is rebounding following a drop over the weekend after the US rating downgrade announcement, and is currently trading against the Euro at 1.111905, and against the Pound at 1.33104 The Yen is currently trading lower at 145.14 to the dollar, with the rand stronger against a weaker US dollar and currently trading at R18.04.

Commodities:

• Gold futures prices have gained new interest and momentum today and are currently trading up by 0,7% at $3228 per ounce.
• Copper prices have gained 0,54% this morning and are currently at $4.5753.
• Silver futures prices are trending 0,57% higher this morning and are currently trading at $32.461
• Platinum futures are trading upwards today and at $988.50 while Palladium prices are also trending upwards today and at $968.50 currently.
• Brent crude oil prices are currently trading lower today, and are currently at $64.99, with WTI also trending lower, and trading at $62.10.
• Cocoa futures are trending upwards and have jumped by more than 3% this morning and are currently at $10931.70 per ton.
• Coffee futures prices are trending over 2% lower this morning and are at $374.64 currently.

Crypto Currencies:

• Bitcoin prices are currently trading more than -3% lower today and are currently trading at $102851
• Ether prices have lost more than -4% this morning and are currently at $2386.90
• $Trumpcoin is trading -1,9% lower today, and is currently trading at $12.80

(All prices quoted at approximately 08H20 – Central African Time)

Other Breaking News in Africa Today

No Justice for Ex Justice Minister:

Martha Karua, a leading African Attorney and the former Justice Minister in Kenya, has stated that she has been deported from Tanzania in what she believes is a move to prevent her from attending the court case of tanzania’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu. The two colleagues had accompanied her were also reportedly also detained and deported. Tanzanian authorities have not yet issued a statement on the matter. Lissu, who is the leader of Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party, is due to appear in court today (19 May) on charges of treason.  Martha Karua is a well-respected human rights advocate, and has publicly  raised questions of the deterioration of democracy across Africa. She has also been representing Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, who was kidnapped in Kenya last year and taken back to his home country to face treason charges.

Suicide Bombing Attack in Somalia:

A bombing incident by a suicide bomber in the Somali capital Mogadishu, yesterday, that targeted young recruits waiting to register at a military camp, left at least 13 people dead and 21 wounded, according to reports. The Capital has regularly been the target by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab terrorist group, which has waged an insurgency war for over a decade. The group frequently attacks military and government sites as part of its effort to impose its strict sharia law on the community. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.