News 11:00

BULLETIN 2 July 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The JSE recorded good gains in the first six months of the year
# Cape Town gets an interdict against extortionists
# And rugby: The British and Irish Lions’ coach expects a much tougher game against the Reds

# Investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange did well in the first half of the year, with the All Share Index increasing by 14.7-percent. However, the good performance can be attributed to only a handful of shares. Only 25-percent of the 289 listed shares achieved double-digit returns and only 59 shares posted gains of more than 14-percent. Gold and platinum mines and the country’s big telecommunication companies with their associated black economic empowerment shares did well too. At least 145 shares disappointed, with 27 posting small gains of less than one-percent or nothing at all.

# Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya has welcomed the arrest of three city officials who stand accused of the theft of electrical transformers valued at approximately seven-million-rand. Moya says this development represents a serious and necessary step toward protecting the city’s infrastructure and assets. She says Tshwane had accordingly budgeted 565.4-million-rand for the protection of municipal assets for this financial year:

# The City of Cape Town has welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s decision to reinstitute the interim interdict against extortionists and others who are determined to derail the MyCiTi construction project along Govan Mbeki Road in Philippi. The interdict is effective until April next year. Mayoral committee member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, says any person threatening officials and contractors at the site, or attempting to disrupt or delay the work will be arrested:

# Rugby: British and Irish Lions’ head coach Andy Farrell expects a much tougher match against the Reds in Brisbane today after they pummelled Western Force 54-7 in Saturday’s first tour match in Perth. Farrell says they have to be adaptable, with nine matches within five weeks, including three Tests against the Wallabies. The Reds are coached by Les Kiss, who takes over at the Wallabies next year. Farrell says they are a great side, and will always be well prepared where Kiss is involved.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-64-cents and the euro at 20-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 107-thousand-33-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-331-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-81-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the wait is over for K-pop fans. The South Korean band BTS confirmed their highly anticipated comeback, scheduling a new album and tour for next year. Announcing the news during their first live stream since all band members completed their mandatory military service, the seven-strong group said they would head to the US later this month to begin working on new music, to be released in 2026.  It will be BTS’s first world tour since the group’s Permission to Dance on Stage tour back in 2022, and their first album since 2020.

Stay tuned for more news………….