Demand for diamonds has recovered as weddings resume and jewellery stores prepare for year-end demand for shiny trinkets. After a slump in sales at the onset of Covid-19, De Beers says diamond markets continued to improve last month and into this month. So, after weighing on Anglo American's first-half results, news of the recovery sent shares in its parent company 3% higher on Friday.

Meanwhile, Afrox has been cushioned by steady demand for medical gases thanks to its five-year government contract to supply state hospital. Its shares also closed higher despite the gases group reporting lower overall sales for the first half of its financial year.

More on those to follow in today's newsletter, along with annual results from Net1 and updates from Sasfin and RMB Holdings.

In The Week Ahead, Chris Gilmour reviews some of the news that drove the direction of global markets last week and what to watch out for in the days ahead, including results from Harmony Gold, Discovery, Remgro and Woolworths.

I'll keep you posted on the numbers.

I hope you have a good week.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

The latest from Ingham Analytics

In The Ingham Analytics Weekly Letter on Sunday, reference was made to the word integrity in business and the fact that environmental, social and governance or ESG now features in integrated reporting. Which is where "The devil incarnate, Softbank?" comes in. Softbank has been involved in what Ingham Analytics see as engineering, manipulating is another word, a fractured tech market in the US. The mathematics behind this are complex. They explain why the processes put in play have exploded tech and why tech has the ingredients to implode.

Capitec ended last week on a firmer note so you may wish to read "Looking for dips" for further context on this popular banking stock. But Ingham Analytics did caution about getting carried away and that profit taking should now be considered.