These rallies underscore the disconnect between financial markets and asset classes and the wider South African economy, which is growing at a snail’s pace and remains burdened with an unemployment rate of almost 32% and glaring disparities of income and wealth. Judging from the performance of South African financial markets in 2025, it is hard to believe that the economy probably only grew about 1% or so. The JSE All-share index added 38.5% over the course of 2025 to close the year just shy of 116,000 points and near its record high reached in December of more than 117,000.
The rand, for its part, gained over 12% against the dollar in 2025, ending the year just below 16.60/dlr. And the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond fell about 70 basis points to 8.21%. In the JSE’s case, its performance was partly a reflection of a worldwide equities rally in 2025 that saw global stock markets put in double-digit gains for the third consecutive year.
The S&P 500, for example, rose 16.5% in 2025. The JSE’s gains in percentage terms were more than double that thanks in no small part to red-hot precious metals prices, which in turn sparked massive growth in the share prices of producers. Gold’s dizzying record run to over $4,000 an ounce saw Harmony Gold’s share price more than double in 2025.
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Gold Fields’ almost tripled while Sibanye-Stillwater’s surged almost fourfold. Sibanye is also a producer of platinum group metals (PGMs), which staged their own rally in 2025 as supplies tightened. Northam Platinum’s share price more than tripled in 2025, Impala Platinum’s almost doubled while Valterra Platinum’s rose close to 150%.
These rallies look set to be sustained in 2026 as platinum group metals demand is seen rising, and gold’s “safe haven” status will remain in play in the face of global economic uncertainty and mounting geopolitical tensions. And global central bank demand for gold remains robust, especially among emerging markets as they seek to reduce their exposure to the dollar.
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