The Investment Perspective, with Ninety One

Gold fell from over $5 500 to about $3 600 this year, and central banks stepped back before coming back in force in the second quarter. Muhammad Docrat explains why the structural case still holds and what gold does for a portfolio that other assets can't.

Xi Jinping's Washington visit was more significant than the tariff concessions it produced. The symbolism, including Trump meeting Xi on the tarmac, points to Washington finally treating Beijing as a peer, Philip Saunders argues. For investors who've long priced in a Taiwan flashpoint, that shift deserves more attention than the trade headlines it generated.

Three central banks moved last week. A fourth, our own, decides this week. If you're trying to draw one lesson from all of it, Ruen Naidu argues, it’s this: the decision that matters most for South African bonds isn't the one the SARB is about to make.

A JSE that looks strong on the surface is really two markets in one: diversified miners and gold and platinum names riding the global AI infrastructure and commodities boom, against an SA Inc split between struggling retailers and resilient banks. Samantha Hartard explains why SA, despite having almost no tech exposure, is still finding a way into the AI trade through copper, coal and the physical buildout behind it.

Malcolm Charles breaks down why two wars, an AI-distorted equity market and an unpredictable US election are colliding at once, and what it means for investors. 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been buying back long bonds to calm a sell-off at the long end of the yield curve. Fed governor Kevin Warsh, fresh from a hawkish Jackson Hole speech, wants the opposite: a smaller balance sheet and a clear signal from the curve. Ruen Naidu unpacks why the two are at odds, and why an oil price spike could override both.