News 14:00

BULLETIN 28 July 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Borrowing costs and weaker consumer confidence are affecting housing demand
# Johnson and Johnson offers 92.3-billion-rand to settle over 70-thousand baby powder lawsuits
# And soccer: Former great Zinedine Zidane is confirmed as France’s next head coach

# FNB senior economist, Siphamandla Mkhwanazi, says higher borrowing costs, weaker consumer confidence and softer economic conditions are weighing on housing demand, and are likely to restrain market activity through the remainder of the year. The FNB House Price Index slowed further last month, with annual house price growth easing to 5.2-percent year-on-year from 5.7-percent in May. Mkhwanazi says the housing market continues to benefit from supply-side constraints that are helping to cushion prices:

# The Gauteng Health Department says dialysis services at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital have continued uninterrupted despite recent shortages of key dialysis consumables. Spokesperson Steve Mabona says contingency measures ensured no treatments were missed, cancelled, or postponed. He says dialysis filters were temporarily sourced from nearby facilities following procurement delays. Mabona adds procurement has been fast-tracked and measures are being implemented to strengthen supply chain management:

# The Eastern Cape Department of Transport says six people have been killed in a head-on collision on the N2 near Mooiplaas outside KuGompo City this morning. Department spokesperson Unathi Binqose says one of the vehicles caught fire after the crash, trapping some occupants inside. Binqose urges motorists to exercise extreme caution, warning that wet and slippery roads and poor visibility significantly increase the risk of serious collisions. He says emergency and rapid response teams are on the scene.

Moving abroad:

# Johnson and Johnson has offered to pay roughly 92.3-billion-rand to resolve lawsuits alleging its baby powder and other products containing talcum cause ovarian cancer. The settlement covers around 76-thousand claims, with the company paying up to 50.25-billion-rand next year, with further payments in 2028. Vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, says while they are confident they would have ultimately prevailed with ​further litigation, this resolution allows the company ⁠to put the matter behind it and remain focused on developing medicines and devices that save lives.

# Soccer: Former star player Zinedine Zidane had been confirmed as France’s next head coach. He will succeed Didier Deschamps, whose 14-year reign ended after the World Cup. Fifty-four-year-old Zidane represented his country in 108 matches between 1994 and 2006, scoring 31 goals. He was part of the World Cup champion team of 1998. Zidane coached Spanish giants Real Madrid for two stints from 2014 until 2021. He will reportedly sign a four-year contract to take France to the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.   

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-80-cents and the euro at 19-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-31-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-235-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-18-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….