News 18:00

BULLETIN 30 May 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Reserve Bank keeps the repo rate unchanged at 8.25-percent
# The jury deliberates further in Trump’s hush money trial
# And tennis: Aryna Sabalenka and Daniil Medvedev reach the third round at the French Open 

# The Monetary Policy Committee has kept the repo rate unchanged at 8.25-percent, maintaining the same level since May last year. Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago says the forecast indicates modest growth acceleration alongside gradual inflation stabilisation in coming years. He says the committee’s decisions remain data-dependent and committed to anchoring inflation to the midpoint of the target band of 3- to 6-percent. He advocates for measures to improve economic conditions:

# Preliminary results from the Electoral Commission a short while ago showed the ANC was leading with 43.41-percent. The DA followed with 24.7-percent while the EFF was on 8.86-percent. The MK Party and the Patriotic Alliance are among the top five nationally, with 8.14- and 4.06-percent respectively.

Meanwhile, Hope4SA says this year’s elections focused more on winning hearts than securing votes. On the sideline at the results centre in Midrand, the party’s secretary, Dianne Rogers, highlighted the significance of this moment, suggesting it could be a watershed for the party. Rogers expressed pride in the party being self-financed. She believes the outcomes of the results signal a major shift on the horizon:

# Jurors returned today to a second day of deliberations in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, leaving the Republican presidential candidate and the country waiting for a decision that could upend November’s election. After weeks of testimony from more than 20 witnesses on Trump’s alleged fraud in covering up a politically damaging tryst with a porn star, the spotlight is now on the 12-strong New York jury. The jurors’ identities are kept secret for their own protection. They are working behind closed doors in a separate room.

# Tennis: Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus charged into the French Open third round with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima within 62 minutes. The two-time Australian Open champion meets former world number two, Paula Badosa of Spain, or Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva for a spot in the last 16. In the men’s draw, Daniil Medvedev of Russia also moved into the third round when his opponent, Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, retired while trailing the fifth seed 6-1, 5-love.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-59-cents and the euro at 20-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-605-dollars-10-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-350-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-6-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….