Apple is marching full steam ahead with producing its first vehicle, which could hit the roads as early as 2025, reports Bloomberg.
The Cupertino-based tech giant will produce a fully autonomous electric vehicle after earlier trying to focus on steering and acceleration with limited self-driving capabilities.
Apple shares also jumped up by 2.4% on the back of the Bloomberg report to $157.23.
It looks like Elon Musk will have to battle it out with a behemoth of a competitor in due course.
Speaking of Musk, the world’s wealthiest man said SpaceX will launch its Starship spaceship into orbit into January. Musk said SpaceX would carry out the first tests in December but warned the initial attempts may not be successful.
The billionaire continues to offload his Tesla stock as he reaches his goal of selling off 10% of the electric car manufacturer. Earlier this week he disposed of stock to the value of $973 million to add to the $7.8 billion he sold the previous week.
Recently Musk challenged the UN to provide evidence as to how $6.6 billion would solve world hunger. In typical Musk fashion, he did so via Twitter, firing off a tweet aimed at UN World Food Programme (WEF) chief David Beasley.
This week WEF hit back at Musk and released a one-time appeal to the world’s billionaires to help lift 42 million people out of food insecurity and announced a comprehensive plan to reach the target.
Bitcoin is having a tough week, the cryptocurrency fell to a one-month low during Asian trading this morning and is 20% down on last week’s record high. Bitcoin is currently at $56 136 (R877 878), while the second-largest crypto, Ether was at a three-week low and set for a 14% weekly loss. Ether is currently at $4 049 (R63 324).
In the markets, the rand remains at its weakest level since the start of the year trading at R15.63 to the US dollar. The rand slumped by nearly 1% on Thursday following the Reserve Bank’s decision to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
‘Eskom is alive’: Deputy President Mabuza backs De Ruyter, urges investment in new stations – Fin24
Doing the splits: Investec to offload 15% of NinetyOne – Daily Maverick
Tender blacklist ’empty’, but Mabuza says new bill will make it obligatory to name and shame – Fin24
Global Business
Alibaba: Shares dive after China spending slowdown warning – BBC News
Evergrande boss has used $1.1 billion own money to pay down company debt, pledging, selling assets – Business Insider
Blackstone makes sweetened $6.2 bln play for Australia’s Crown – Reuters
Markets
Market wrap: JSE break winning streak but stays above 70,000 points – SAccess
Euro’s pain makes for dollar’s weekly gain – SABC News
Big Tech Drives S&P 500 to 66th Record This Year: Markets Wrap – Bloomberg (via Daily Maverick)
Opinion/In-depth
SARB hikes interest rates 0.25% – Kokkie Kooyman analyses Lesetja Kganyago’s decision – BizNews
South Africa’s state pension fund reluctant to use new powers to boost offshore investments – Daily Maverick
Zuma tax judgment: When transparency trumps the need for privacy – Daily Maverick
Video
Chris Logan on Tongaat’s monster R4bn rights issue – BizNewsTV
Tourism in SA | Readiness for festive season – eNCA
Life Healthcare Group sees improvement in profits amid a pandemic – eNCA
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