Breaking News Today – Tuesday 3 March 2026

Business News Today 

Johannesburg Stock Exchange Posts Exceptional Results

The JSE has delivered record financial results with Nett Profit After Tax up 16.7%, and exceeding R1 billion for the first time. ROE rose to 22.0% (2024: 20.2%) and the business remained highly cash generative, enabling the Board to increase the ordinary dividend by 16.0% to 961 cents per share (2024: 828 cents per share) and to declare a special dividend of 100 cents per share. Outgoing JSE CEO Dr Leila Fourie commented that there is potential to transform Africa’s largest exchange into a multi-currency market that she believes could attract global investors and reduce currency risk.Fourie said that the notion of a Synthetic Financial Hub could potentially attract around 1 trillion rand in investments currently held elsewhere in places such as Mauritius. According to Fourie, the reforms aim to restore competitiveness, noting that South Africa’s ranking in the Global Financial Centre Index has slipped.

Oil Prices on the boil Over War Risks

Brent crude futures have surged by over 2.2% to above $79 per barrel this morning after spiking by over 6% yesterday, as traders tracked escalating hostilities in the Middle East with mounting risks of a full shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the US would do “whatever it takes” when asked how long the war with Iran could persist. A senior US official also reportedly indicated that the US was preparing a significant escalation in strikes on Iran within the next 24 hours, targeting its missile production, drones and naval assets.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking Iranian official warned that ships attempting to transit the strait could be targeted. Tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint accounting for roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments, have effectively halted, amid heightened security risks. Saudi’s Aramco also temporarily suspended operations at its Ras Tanura refinery, the kingdom’s largest, while evaluating damage after a drone strike hit the facility yesterday.

Bond Yields rise in South Africa

South Africa’s 10 year government bond yield rose above 8.10%, reaching its highest level since January 23, with the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East raising economic uncertainty and driving inflation concerns in global markets. Disruptions to oil flows from the Persian Gulf are expected to push petrol and diesel prices higher, potentially fuelling inflation in South Africa and lowering the chances of Reserve Bank rate cuts. Record foreign capital inflows have flowed into South Africa in recent months, driven by investors seeking higher yields and bolstered by positive domestic factors such as contained inflation, economic reforms, fiscal discipline, and political stability. The 2026 budget signalled the government’s commitment to fiscal reform, successfully stabilising debt, reducing the budget deficit, and supporting continued growth.

Prices of Fuel Set to Hike in SA Tomorrow

Fuel prices in South Africa are set to increase from tomorrow, Wednesday 4 March 2026. The Department of Mineral Resources and Petroleum (formerly Mineral Resources and Energy) announced the official adjustments on Monday 2 March 2026. These changes will take effect at midnight tonight (00:01) on 4 March and apply nationwide, with retail prices for petrol and wholesale prices for diesel/paraffin reflecting the shifts.Key Changes (as confirmed by the Department.

• Petrol (both 93 and 95 octane, ULP & LRP): Increase of 20 cents per litre (0.20 c/l).
• Diesel:
  • 0.05% sulphur (500 ppm): Increase of 62 cents per litre (wholesale).
  • 0.005% sulphur (50 ppm): Increase of 65 cents per litre (wholesale).
• Illuminating Paraffin: Increase of 44 cents per litre (wholesale), with the single maximum national retail price rising by about 58 cents.

Breaking News Shorts:  

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped -0.9% to below 57,600, while the broader Topix Index declined -1% to 3,860 today, extending the previous session’s losses as escalating tensions in the Middle East drove oil prices higher and intensified global inflation concerns. 
• Cursor, the developer of an AI coding assistant has surpassed $2 billion in annualised revenue, a metric calculated by multiplying the latest month’s revenue by 12, according to a Bloomberg source. This individual says the four-year-old startup saw its revenue run rate double over the past three months.
• Rio Tinto has approved the restart of its Richards Bay Minerals’ $473 million Zulti South project in South Africa, the company announced on Monday after six years of closure due to community unrest. Rio Tinto owns a controlling 74% of Richards Bay Minerals, the mineral-rich sands in Northern KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa, extracting mostly zircon, rutile, ilmenite and titanium oxide used in the manufacture of paint, sunscreen and smartphones.
• The South African rand depreciated toward 16.2 per USD yesterday, the lowest in almost a month, as escalating Middle East tensions fuelled economic uncertainty and reduced appetite for riskier assets, including emerging market currencies. Yesterday the rand traded at 16.15 against the dollar, down around 1.3% from Friday’s close. It has strengthened slightly this morning to trade around R16.10
• Nigeria has signed a $1.3 billion investment deal with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) to build an alumina refinery and fund nationwide mineral exploration, the government said late on Sunday, in one of the country’s biggest private-sector mining deals.The deal covers the building of the refinery, the launch of a nationwide mineral mapping programme and the creation of an investment vehicle to fast-track exploration.

Markets by Numbers 

Currency markets indicate the US dollar trading stronger against major currencies today, with the Greenback trading against the Euro at 1.16774 while trading against the Pound at 1.33824. The Yen is currently trading at 157.37 to the dollar. The rand (ZAR) is currently trading at around R16.09 against the US dollar.

Commodities:  

• Gold futures are rising today, up by over 0.6% this morning, and currently trading at around $5357.30 per ounce.  
• Copper prices are trending 0.6% higher today, with prices currently around $5.9340 per pound
• Silver futures are currently trading marginally higher at around $98.520 per ounce.
• Platinum futures are trending around -0.6% lower this morning, and currently trading at $2300.40, While Palladium prices are trending 0.6% higher this morning, and currently trading around $1805.50 per ounce.
• Brent crude oil prices are up by over 2.5% today, with prices currently at $79.73 with WTI trading at $72.71
• Cocoa futures are currently trading around $2987 per ton. 
• Coffee futures are currently trending lover 1% higher today, and trading at around $2.84 per pound

Crypto Currencies: 

• Bitcoin prices are down by around -0.5% this morning, and trading at around $68401 per coin currently 
• Ether prices are also down by around -1% today, and currently trading around $2007.52.
• $Trumpcoin are currently trading around $3.474

(All prices quoted at approximately 07H25 Central African Time) 

Africa News Briefs:

• Three senior South African government health officials, that includes the Health Department’s Director-General, Sandile Buthelezi, were arrested and charged with fraud and theft of money allocated to the country by the Global Fund, one of the world’s largest infectious-disease charities. The department’s acting deputy director-general and its chief financial officer were also arrested, according to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and the National Prosecuting Authority said. 
• An attack in South Sudan has resulted in the death of at least 169 people, after dozens of armed men attacked a town in the Ruweng Administrative Area, local officials have said. A group of unidentified people from Mayom County in neighbouring Unity ‌state stormed Abiemnhom County on Sunday, the area’s information minister, James Monyluak Mijok, said yesterday. Ninety of those killed were civilians – including children, women, and the elderly – he told the Reuters news agency. The remaining 79 were government soldiers.