Breaking News today –  Monday 28 October 2024

Business & Tech News

World Bank – $41 Billion in Climate Funding Unaccounted for: In a stunning revelation on climate action funding, a study by Oxfam has found that in the financial accounting on its climate change projects, for the period of 2017-2023, the difference between, actual expenditure on the Bank’s projects differ from amounts budgeted for by 26–43% above or below the claimed climate finance. Across the entire climate finance portfolio, for this period the unaccounted for funds amounts to US$24.28–US$41.32 billion. In this astounding finding, there is also no information available that indicates what new climate actions were supported and which planned programs and actions the misspent or missing budgets were allocated from. Calls have been made by World Bank funding nations, which includes the USA, UK, Germany and Japan, that the Bank should improve its reporting practices, undertake a climate finance assessment on closed projects, standardize how it reports on climate finance in projects and create a transparent and publicly available climate finance database. The Transport sector, the largest export sector in Japan, jumped by over 3%.

Yen and Yuan move markets: Japanese stocks rose strongly this morning (28 Oct) with the Japanese Nikkei gaining over 2%, as the yen hit a three-month low after the ruling coalition in Japan, led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), lost its parliamentary majority in a drubbing in Sunday’s election, raising uncertainty over the path for policy and the economy. The LDP has been the ruling party in Japan since the end of the second World War. The rally seen in trade on stocks today is partly due to sentiment that the “big risk event is now behind”, and markets prefer stability. The other reason is due to the weaker yen which benefits the big export industries in Japan and in essence inflates the value of overseas sales. It also makes Japanese stocks more attractive to foreign investors, who will take advantage of the weaker Yen to buy strategically in shares that are not export focused. The Chinese Yuan has also strengthened by 2%, since the end of September, against the US dollar, after multiple Chinese government investment incentive programs were introduced to inject growth in their stagnant economy and property markets.

Google to Launch Browser AI in December: According to media reports by The Information, Google is in the final stages of development of a new AI technology product, that takes over a web browser and will complete search tasks such as research and shopping. The product, with a code name of Project Jarvis, is set to demonstrate its functionality and purpose as early as December 2024, together with the release of its updated Gemini large language AI model. Anthropic and Google are trying to take the browser AI agent concept a step further than competitors with software that interacts directly with a person’s computer or browser, according to the report.

Nvidia Eats Apple Top Co Status: Nvidia is now officially the most valued company globally and has overtaken Apple, after a record-setting rally in the share prices on Friday. The growth in the company has been driven by high demand for its specialized artificial intelligence computer processing units, that at this stage are the most commonly used in processing units in large arrays and Cloud Computing data banks, required for the massive processing requirements in AI models. Nvidia’s stock market moved briefly to the $3.53 trillion figure on Friday, slightly above Apple’s $3.52 trillion. Nvidia stock has since pared its gains to about 1% and was trading neck-and-neck with Apple’s valuation at close, at $3.52 trillion compared to Apple’s $3.53 trillion, with some analysts expecting the Nvidia stock value to eclipse a $4 trillion valuation soon.

Market News

Markets: Indices in the US closed a mixed bag on Friday with the NASDAQ gaining after several big tech stocks jumped in value and the index closed up by 0,59%, the S&P 500 was flat and ended down by -0,03% and the Dow Jones closing -0.61% down. The Nikkei closed 1,82% up today at 38065, while the Hang Seng is up by 0,49% this morning at 20590 currently.

Currencies: The US Dollar has strengthened and is currently trading at 1.080 against the Euro, at 1,297 against the Pound, and at 153.32 against the Yen. The rand has strengthened slightly and is currently trading at R17.68 to the US dollar.

Commodities:

• Gold prices have been flat this morning and is currently trading at $2,736
• Platinum prices are currently trading stronger at $1024, with Palladium trading upwards at $1191 currently
• Brent crude is currently trading -4,4% lower at $72.67 with WTI also dropping and trading at $68.75 currently.
• Cocoa prices are currently trading at 5231 pounds,

(All prices quoted at 09H40 CAT)

Other News in Africa Today

Sub-Saharan African States Need Economic Reform:  According to the IMF Arica Director, Abebe Selassie, Sub-Saharan African nations that have largely commodity export based economies, need to look at reforming their economies to tackle unstable and low regional economic growth. The region is expected to grow by 3.6% this year, unchanged from last year and down from the IMF forecast of 3.8% done in April 2024. IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook released this week that these countries will continue to see stagnant economic growth, with commodity prices not providing the boost in their economies that can transform their projected growth and lagging behind their diversified counterparts. The commodity intensive countries are growing at about half the rate of the rest of the region, the IMF said in the report, with oil exporters struggling the most in what it described as “subdued and uneven” regional growth.

Kenyan Activist Detained: A Kenyan human rights activist Boniface Mwangi is reportedly in police custody and is facing charges of inciting violence. According to family members, six, unidentified, masked individuals forcibly removed Mwangi from his home over the weekend, according to a report by BBC. The detention comes after Mwangi had openly called for an anti-government protest that was planned to be held a marathon in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Sunday. Police spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed to local media that Mr Mwangi had been held in custody, however no further details were released. The activist’s detention has caused widespread condemnation among the community, who are demanding his release.