What’s New

Last week, prices of both grades of petrol went up by R1.71 per litre while diesel increased by close to R3 per litre. The recent jump in fuel prices is driven by a twofold weakening of the exchange rate and a substantially higher oil price. Having started at around R17 to the United States (US) dollar at the start of the year, the rand has now depreciated by more than 11% year-to-date. The oil price, in turn, has increased by more than 10% already this year, reaching its latest level just above $90 a barrel. A higher oil price will likely add to inflationary pressure, although the impact of higher fuel prices is usually overstated.

The world of finance and investments is often associated with numbers and statistics but the real-world experience looks a bit different with behavioural patterns often playing a significant role in financial markets. Behavioural finance is the study of the psychological influences and biases that both investors and financial practitioners experience when making financial decisions.