Tag: global financial crisis

The employment trends in the metals and engineering sector are an important indicator for the underlying structural constraints that have plagued the sector for the last decade and a half. The sector currently employs 362,871 people, which is a significant drop from the 577,507 people employed in 2008.

In a world where banks are perceived as unshakeable fortresses, there is a worrying truth that lies just beneath the surface: banks are far more fragile and fail more frequently than we choose to believe.

As we wind up 2022, it is natural to reflect on yet another tough year in the markets and to start planning for the one that lies ahead. We believe there is one crucial ingredient investors will need to ensure investment success in the new year: a fresh mindset.

2020 will be remembered as the year where the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world taking the lives of many. This human tragedy was accompanied by an economic crisis as global economies shut down in an attempt to slow down the spread of the disease.

COVID-19 has created a universal imperative for governments and businesses to take immediate actions with significant financial ramifications. According to our latest study, market capitalisation for the biggest 2,000 companies worldwide has declined by 24 percent since the beginning of the outbreak, losing more than $12.4 trillion.

The banking group is hopeful that impairments will decline, and client activity will continue to improve as the year progresses. Nedbank believes the worst may be behind it after suffering a large decline in first-half earnings due to what is has billed as the Great Lockdown Crisis (GLC).

Global equities rallied close to 40% from March lows to post one of the strongest quarters in a decade. The rally was led by the United States (US), perversely the country with the most COVID-19 cases globally, with healthcare and tech stocks up a combined 23%.

There is a distinct lack of good news at the moment, and certainty is in short supply. The coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Europe, the Middle East and North America, and we have to assume it will continue spreading at a rapid rate.

Markets are walking on eggshells as the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), first reported from Wuhan, China in late December 2019, is wreaking economic havoc. Data from the world’s second largest economy shows a plunge in business activity in the last month, including massive declines in passenger traffic, electricity generation, shipping volumes and real estate transactions.

Budget statements have in recent years perennially made downward revisions in economic growth projections. Disappointing growth outcomes compared to official forecasts is partly attributed to the inability to implement planned structural reforms that would have delivered improved growth outcomes.