Breaking News Today – Tuesday 24 February 2025

Business News Today 

Budget Speech Optimism in South Africa

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will table the South African national 2026 Budget at 14H00 in the National Assembly (Cape Town City Hall tomorrow). Expectations for the budget this year include: Fiscal consolidation push (primary surplus path, deficit narrowing), debt stabilisation ( around78% GDP), tax revenue windfall from massive commodity market price growth, and details on reforms (energy, logistics, water) to support growth. Demand for South African Bonds has been strong ahead of the budget with investors piling in at recent auctions that have been over-subscribed. Questions around viable economic stimulus measures to kick-start the lagging economic growth and create more jobs remain a high concern and the minister will be hard-pressed to find financial solutions to these major hurdles.

Oil Prices Surge on Lower Risk Market

Brent crude oil futures rose to around $71.9 per barrel on Tuesday, its highest level in nearly seven months, as investors closely monitor a new round of talks between the US and Iran. President Trump said on Monday that he would prefer reaching an agreement with Iran, with talks set to resume this Thursday, but warned of a “very bad day” for Tehran if a nuclear deal fails to materialise. Trump also dismissed reports suggesting that the Pentagon is concerned about the risks of a prolonged military campaign against Iran. Fears over a potential military conflict in the Middle East, along with several supply disruptions, have supported crude prices in recent weeks, offsetting expectations of a sizeable surplus production this year. 

Cocoa Price Crises Triggers Early Price Announcement

Ivory Coast is set to announce the fixed price cocoa farmers will get for the mid-crop by the end of February, according to the agriculture minister. This is earlier than expected as the country comes under pressure to slash farmer prices amid a global slump in Cocoa prices. The world’s largest cocoa producing nation usually announces the mid-crop price in late March or early April, not in late February. Cocoa futures fell to around $3,103 (USD/T) yesterday, down 2.36% from the previous day and hitting a 32-month low in the last week. Over the past month, Cocoa’s price has fallen 28.63%, and is down 62.85% compared to the same time last year, triggering a crises in their top export commodity.

Ivorian government sources have been quoted as saying the country is considering cutting its farm-gate prices to align with Ghana, which earlier in February cut its farmer prices by around 30%. Earlier this year,, Ivory Coast pledged to buy 100,000 metric tons of cocoa that had been piling up inland and at ports after sales to international traders dried up due to high farmer prices and plunging world market prices.

US Stocks Hit By AI Concerns

Wall Street yesterday, saw big share-price losses hit companies markets viewed as likely to be undercut by AI-powered rivals. Among the big losers were CrowdStrike which fell -9.8% growing its loss for the year-to-date to -25.3%. A new tool from Anthropic that scans codebases for security vulnerabilities and suggests targeted software patches for human review has been hitting software security stocks across the cybersecurity industry. AppLovin plunged by -9.1% bringing its loss for the year to date to -43.5%. It is among the software companies hurt by worries that AI competition will steal customers and fundamentally reset their industries. Concerns among investors are also increasing over companies such as Alphabet and Amazon that are considered to be overspending on hardware such as Nvidia’s chips that they run the risk of never getting to a decent return on investment state.

Breaking News Shorts:  

• Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s latest AI model, which is rumoured to be released next week, was apparently trained on Nvidia’s most advanced AI chip, the Blackwell, according to a statement by a senior Trump administration official yesterday. The Trump administration had banned the export of these more advanced chips to China and this may be the first clear violation of U.S. export controls.
• China’s Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.8% to above 4,110 this morning, while the Shenzhen Component gained 1.3% to 14,280, recovering losses from the last session as Chinese markets reopened after the extended Lunar New Year holiday. 
• Domestic car sales in Thailand increased 53.77% year-on-year in January 2026, following a 39.07% rise in December, according to the Federation of Thai Industries. The country’s car production went up 10.53% to 118,386, following an 8.56% increase in the previous month, supported by domestic demand
• Copper futures jumped almost 2% this morning, towards $5.9 per pound, clawing back losses from the previous session as traders in mainland China returned from the extended Lunar New Year holiday. Optimism over potentially lower US tariffs supported the rally after the US Supreme Court curbed the scope of US Administrations reciprocal tariffs.
• Gold futures dropped more than 1% to around $5,170 per ounce today, after four days of gains, as traders saw reduced tariff risks and geopolitical uncertainty. The Trump administration is seeking to revive its global tariff agenda after the Supreme Court last week blocked many of the levies

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar strengthening against major currencies today, with the Greenback trading against the Euro at 1.17722 while trading against the Pound at 1.34831. The Yen is currently trading at 155.26 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) is currently trading lower at around R16.03 against the US dollar.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures have lost some momentum today, falling by around -1% this morning, and currently trading at around $5175.00 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending 1.66% higher today, with prices currently around $5.8765 per pound
• Silver futures are flat today, and currently trading around $88.000 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are fairly flat this morning, and currently trading at $2149.30, While Palladium prices are trending -0.4% lower morning, and currently trading around $1768.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are trending almost 1% higher today, and currently at $72.06 with WTI trading higher at $66.88
• Cocoa futures have lost more ground today, and currently trading around $3103 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are currently trending -2.6% lower today, and trading at around $2.7825 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are trending -2.6% lower today, and trading at around $63043 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are around -1.3.% lower today, and are currently trading around $1826.31
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading around $3.255

(All prices quoted at approximately 08H55 Central African Time) 

Africa News Briefs:

• Chad has closed its border with neighbouring Sudan, following military clashes linked to the conflict in Sudan that has claimed the lives of five Chadian soldiers. The Chadian government announced the closure, citing ‘repeated incursions and violations committed by forces in Sudan’s conflict’. This is not the first time the Sudanese civil war has spilled over into Chadian territory, leading to casualties and property damage.
• Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe, appeared in a South African court yesterday facing attempted murder charges after a gardener was shot at his home in Hyde Park in Johannesburg last week. Police have not recovered the weapon believed used in the shooting, which left an employee hospitalised following an “altercation”.