The Governor of the South African Central Bank: Guiding inflation back to the midpoint of the target range can reduce the economic cost of high inflation and will enable lower interest rates in the future.

South African Central Bank Governor: Decision-making will continue to be data-dependent and sensitive to the outlook, inflation and reported balance of risks.

South African Central Bank Governor: The policy is restrictive and consistent with the inflation outlook. Inflation expectations are rising and there are serious upside risks. Therefore, given these risks, the inflation outlook remains and the Committee remains vigilant and stands ready to take action should risks begin to materialize.

South African Central Bank Governor: Three members of the Monetary Policy Committee support keeping interest rates unchanged and two members support raising interest rates.

The South African Central Bank kept the repo rate unchanged at 8.25%, in line with market expectations.

Governor of the South African Central Bank: South Africa’s external financing needs will increase as the current account deficit increases, expanding from 2% of GDP this year to 3% of GDP in 2024, and to 3.4% of GDP in 2025.

Market News: UAE considering controls on sanctioned technology used in conflict with Russia.

The Governor of the South African Central Bank: Global economic growth is expected to remain roughly at 2.6% in 2023 and 2.7% in 2024.

South African Central Bank Governor Konyago: We expect that markets in major developed economies will continue to be volatile. Economic growth in the United States remains stronger than in Europe. Higher long-term policy rates and prolonged fiscal conditions are expected to weigh on economic growth prospects for some time.

Cryptocurrency company stocks were lower in pre-market trading as Bitcoin fell for a second day in a row.

According to Interfax: Russia will not buy surplus grain as reserves but will export it.

ECB Governing Council member Vujcic reiterated Croatia’s economic growth forecast for 2023 at 2.9%.

ECB Governing Council member Vujcic: Croatia’s economic growth will slow down in 2024 and 2025.

Splunk (SPLK.O) rose more than 20% before the market opened, after Cisco (CSCO.O) announced that it would spend $28 billion to acquire Splunk.

Kremlin: There is no clear information about unblocking the transportation corridors in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

According to AFP: Armenia stated that it has no preparations for a large-scale evacuation from the Naka region. Previously, Azerbaijan claimed to have regained full control of the disputed area.

Spot palladium fell 2.00% on the day and is now at $1,241.91 per ounce.