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US markets roared higher on Friday, overcoming a string of small losses earlier in the week. Investors were heartened by a speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at his Jackson Hole symposium, where he hinted that the central bank may not wait for inflation to return fully to target before cutting rates. The S&P 500 had its best session since May, with gains across the board. Mega-cap tech stocks rallied, small-cap shares leapt about 4%, and banks notched fresh record highs.

In company news, Apple is reportedly in early talks to integrate Google's Gemini AI into a revamped version of its Siri voice assistant. Elsewhere, Nvidia has asked suppliers including Samsung Electronics and Amkor Technology to halt production linked to its H20 AI chip (all because Howard Lutnick is an idiot). Lastly, Meta Platforms struck a deal worth at least $10 billion with Google to use its cloud computing services.

On Friday, the JSE All-share closed up 0.96%, the S&P 500 rose 1.52%, and the Nasdaq was 1.88% higher. What a lovely end to the week.

US equities edged lower again yesterday as traders stayed cautious ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole. The S&P 500 notched its fifth straight decline, which sounds rough, but it has actually only lost 1.5% over that stretch. Markets will be watching closely today for any policy cues that could reignite momentum.

In company news, Walmart fell 4.5% after the retail giant missed profit expectations. Elsewhere, Boeing shares found support on reports that the company is moving closer to sealing a deal with China for up to 500 aircraft. Lastly, US car safety regulators are investigating Tesla over delays in reporting crashes tied to its driver-assistance technology.


At the closing bell, the JSE All-share closed up 0.69%, the S&P 500 fell 0.40%, and the Nasdaq was 0.34% lower.

US stocks staged a decent comeback yesterday after an ugly open. The major indices clawed back from their lows, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq still ended fractionally in the red. No panic here, the Nasdaq is up 9.6% year-to-date with 20 record closes in 2025, while the S&P 500 is up 9%. A two-day breather feels more like stretching than stumbling.

In company news, Google rolled out a fresh lineup of consumer gadgets - new phones, a watch, and earbuds, which are all designed to flex its AI muscles. Elsewhere, beauty giant Estee Lauder slipped 3.7% after cutting its profit outlook for the year, citing tariff costs as an extra drag.

Here's how the markets fared, the JSE All-share closed down 0.14%, the S&P 500 fell 0.24%, and the Nasdaq was 0.67% lower.

Wall Street ended lower yesterday, dragged down by a cool-off in tech. The S&P 500 slipped despite most of its 11 sectors finishing higher, while the Nasdaq shed 1.4%, its second-steepest drop since April's tariff shock. Palantir (-9.4%), AMD (-5.4%) and Nvidia (-3.5%) led the selloff among this year's megacap winners. Defensives were the bright spot, with real estate, utilities, and consumer staples holding up.

In company news, Home Depot gained 3.2% after posting solid results and softening its stance on tariffs, noting only modest price hikes are now expected. Intel surged 7% on reports that the US government is finalising plans to take a 10% stake. Softbank is also interested in buying up more Intel shares it seems. Lastly, Apple is scaling up iPhone production in India, now spanning five factories, including two newly opened sites.


In short, the JSE All-share closed up a tiny 0.05%, the S&P 500 was down 0.59%, and the Nasdaq was 1.46% lower. Meh.

US markets hovered between modest gains and losses yesterday, with the S&P 500 ending flat while the Nasdaq managed to edge slightly higher.

It's a big week for monetary policy watchers as the Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium begins Thursday. All eyes will be on Jerome Powell's Friday speech, where he's expected to unveil the Fed's new policy framework, outlining how they plan to balance inflation and employment goals.

In company news, Palo Alto Networks gained 4.9% after-hours thanks to an upbeat annual revenue forecast, with plans to roll out bundled AI-driven cybersecurity tools to help clients defend against rising digital threats. Elsewhere, Novo Nordisk is cutting the out-of-pocket cost of its diabetes drug Ozempic for US patients, addressing criticism of high drug prices. At the same time, its weight-loss blockbuster Wegovy has secured US approval to treat a severe form of liver disease.

At the close, the JSE All-share closed down 0.79%, the S&P 500 was unchanged, and the Nasdaq was 0.03% higher.

US stocks slipped into the red on Friday, as small early gains fizzled in the afternoon. Still, it was a good week and the rally is broadening beyond the tech giants that have carried the S&P 500 in recent years. It's been a tumultuous year so far, but investors are confident that corporate earnings will remain robust.

In company news, green energy shares rallied, with SunRun up 32.8%, First Solar up 11.1%, and Enphase up 8.1%, after the Trump administration issued updated rules on tax credit eligibility, which turned out to be more generous than anticipated. Elsewhere, British multinational bank Standard Chartered sank 7.2% on news that the US Attorney General will investigate them for evading sanctions.

On a disappointing Friday, the JSE All-share closed down 0.04%, the S&P 500 fell 0.29%, and the Nasdaq was 0.40% lower.

US markets ended Thursday little changed, after a nasty rise in factory-gate inflation muddied the interest rate outlook. Even so, CME Group's FedWatch Tool still prices in a 92.6% chance of a quarter-point Fed rate cut next month. Amongst the big-caps (our favourite part of the market), Amazon, Eli Lilly and Netflix stood out.

In company news, Applied Materials, the maker of chipmaking equipment, tumbled 14% in after-hours trade after issuing a downbeat sales and profit outlook. Meanwhile, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new stake in UnitedHealth in Q2, sending the depressed health insurer's shares surging 10.7% post-market. The old man probably signed off on the deal, even though he's in the process of stepping down.

Izolo, the JSE All-share closed down 0.28%, the S&P 500 rose a tiny 0.03%, and the Nasdaq was dead flat.

US stocks edged higher again yesterday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added fuel to trader optimism, saying that there's a decent chance the Fed could go big, and cut rates by 50 basis points come September. Nearly 400 of the S&P 500 constituents rose, with Apple and Amazon leading the charge.

In company news. AI startup CoreWeave dropped 20.8% as it spooked investors with a softer-than-expected outlook. Elsewhere, Paramount Skydance blasted 36.7% higher after the recently merged entertainment company became the latest meme stock. Finally, Oracle fell 3.8% after saying it was trimming staff in its high-profile cloud division.

At the closing bell, the JSE All-share was up 0.99%, the S&P 500 tacked on 0.32%, and the Nasdaq was only 0.14% higher. A decent day.

US markets returned to their winning ways yesterday, with the S&P 500 adding over 1% and breaking through 6 400 for the first time. Traders took the latest consumer-price report as "good enough" to keep the party going, with the expectation of one rate cut before the end of the year. Core inflation accelerated to a 3.1% annual rate in July, excluding volatile food and energy costs, up from 2.9% the previous month.

In company news, AI-startup Perplexity says it's offered $34.5 billion to buy Google's Chrome browser. Perplexity is only worth $18 billion, but it's shooting its shot because US antitrust authorities are trying to force Google to spin it off. Elsewhere, Elon Musk took a swipe at Apple's App Store policies, accusing the company of giving OpenAI special treatment.

Here's the lowdown, the JSE All-share closed up 0.64%, the S&P 500 rose 1.13%, and the Nasdaq was 1.39% higher. Record highs, baby!

US stocks slipped on Monday, ahead of a key monthly inflation report. Tariff mania continued, with gold declining after Trump saying out of the blue that there would be no levies on that metal. Later in the day, he backed off on taxes on goods imported from China by offering another 90-day reprieve.

In company news, Trump (who else?) signalled he's open to letting Nvidia sell a toned-down version of Blackwell chips, its most advanced, to China. Both Nvidia and AMD have also agreed to fork over 15% of their Chinese AI chip sales revenue to the US government. This is bizarre, as export taxes are prohibited by the US Constitution. Elsewhere, Intel shares jumped 4% after its CEO visited the White House, days after the President publicly criticised his China links and urged his removal.

At the close, the JSE All-share closed down 0.22%, the S&P 500 fell 0.25%, and the Nasdaq was 0.30% lower.

US markets enjoyed an exuberant Friday, rollicking to new highs. Tech stocks rose again after a week of excellent earnings reports, mostly ignoring tariff setbacks and inflation fears. The S&P 500 is now up 28% from its early April lows. Thanks for coming.

In company news, advertising automation company Trade Desk was the biggest loser in the S&P 500, tumbling 38.6% after issuing lacklustre revenue guidance. Elsewhere, sports gear-maker Under Armour shares plunged 18.1% on tepid sales forecasts. Finally, Monster Beverage climbed 6.4% after reporting record sales of caffeinated sugar water.

In summary, on Friday, the JSE All-share closed up 0.21%, the S&P 500 rose 0.78%, and the Nasdaq was 0.98% higher. All right then.

US markets ended the day mixed. The S&P 500 had a tough afternoon, but almost crawled back to par with defensive sectors like utilities and consumer staples doing the heavy lifting. The Nasdaq did better, notching its 17th record high of 2025. Nvidia and Apple both fared well.

In company news, Intel slipped 3.1% after Donald Trump called for the CEO's resignation, because he has Chinese roots, despite being an American citizen who was born in Malaysia. Elsewhere, language-learning app Duolingo jumped 13.8% after reporting stellar earnings. How long is your streak? Lastly, Crocs got stomped, down a brutal 29% after admitting that cost-cutting, consumer belt-tightening, and tariff headaches would all crunch their revenue.

Izolo, the JSE All-share closed up 0.49%, the S&P 500 fell 0.08%, and the Nasdaq was 0.35% higher. Not too bad, really.

US markets returned to their winning ways yesterday, with tech stocks leading the charge. The so-called Magnificent Seven reached a new all-time high, thanks to smart moves from Apple, Amazon and Tesla. Apple's gains were due to Tim Cook's photo-op at the White House, where they pledged to onshore some aspects of iPhone production, after a $100 billion spending plan.

In company news, McDonald's served up a solid 3.0% share price move as sales improved last quarter. Elsewhere, Walt Disney slipped 2.7% after its third-quarter revenue missed expectations, and it announced a deal between its ESPN unit and the NFL. Finally, e-commerce platform Shopify soared 21.9% after posting much stronger earnings than expected.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 0.34%, the S&P 500 rose 0.73%, and the Nasdaq ended a delicious 1.21% higher. That's more like it.

US markets went down slightly last night, for reasons that are hard to discern. Weakening services activity and persistent price pressures might be feeding into concerns about the Fed's next step. Company results out yesterday were uninspiring, and bank stocks tumbled on chatter that team Trump is working on an executive order to punish banks that discriminate against conservative customers. Huh?

In company news, Advanced Micro Devices fell 6.5% despite a bullish sales forecast, other than in China. Elsewhere, Super Micro Computer slumped 16.3% after disappointing results. Lastly, Amgen shares were unchanged after raising its 2025 outlook, thanks to strong sales from drugs like Repatha.

At the close, the JSE All-share closed up 0.36%, but the S&P 500 fell 0.49%, and the Nasdaq was 0.65% lower. Ah well.

US markets snapped back to winning ways yesterday, erasing Friday's losses. Perhaps last week's very weak bad jobs report will induce the Fed to cut interest rates in September. Strong company earnings are still rolling in, so there is no cause for negativity, just yet.

In company news, Tesla closed 2.2% higher after awarding Elon Musk a new incentive package of 96 million shares, worth around $30 billion. Elsewhere, Spotify shares rose 5.0% after it hiked subscription prices, locking in loyal listeners. Finally, American Eagle Outfitters rose 23.6% thanks to more hype about Sydney Sweeney's jeans.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 1.60%, the S&P 500 rose 1.47%, and the Nasdaq marched 1.95% higher. That will do nicely, thank you.