The effect on international business industries according to research in South Africa, for the past few weeks there was not a day that had passed without the word’s “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” taking over the media. With governments all over the world implementing lockdown, it changed people’s lives, some more drastically than others. In this article we will have a look at what the effect was on some sectors of the economy this far during lockdown.
The effect on stocks and investments – what do the experts say
On the 31st of March 2025, according to Claude van Cuyck, a fund manager at Denker Capital, the FTSE/JSE All Share Index was down by 24,8% since the beginning of the year. Over the first three months of the year, the index’s average stock has declined by 34% and only 6,4% of stocks in the index have delivered positive returns and 39,1% of the stocks in the index are down by over 40%. Van Cuyck stated that most of these declines happened in the past month.
Karl Leinberger, chief investment officer at Coronation, said that although this is a depressing time, we should remember that no 2 crises are the same. We have previously survived more than one financial crisis. He said that it is best to stay focused on the long game, even though it is easy to panic in times like these.
Victoria Reuvers, the MD of Morningstar Investment Management, said that the markets’ moves are providing the professionals who are managing your money with opportunities to buy quality assets on sale and that they are following their investment processes. She advised that if you have money in the market, stay invested, and that now is a good time to invest and to focus on the things that we can control.
The effect on commodities
Bernard Dahdah, the senior commodities analyst at the corporate investment banking company Natixis, predicted that even though a short-lived crash is expected in gold once markets become volatile, it should typically be followed by a rise in value. Gold will remain high valued and potentially even reach $1 800/oz before the end of the year.
Even though silver has not been performing well, he said that it is important to take into consideration that 60% of the world silver production goes into industrial demand and that the value should improve now that some operations are restarting.
Dahdah also said that platinum and aluminium group metals will be hit hard with the automotive sector factories that had to close or had to lower their production volumes.
The effect on the production of companies
Tips, a South African research institute, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, did a snowball survey early to mid-April with 190 companies. According to the survey 9 out of 10 participants said they had to reduce production, 50% had to close down entirely, and a third had to reduce production by more than 50% as a result of the lockdown. 50% of the large companies with more than 2000 employees, were able to make a shift into essential products. Unfortunately, only 1 in 7 companies with less than 50 workers were able to make the same shift.
The effect on betting around the world
The sale of lottery tickets has been stopped in South Africa until further notice as it is not classified as an essential service. This was issued in a statement by the National Lotteries Commission after the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, put a stop to ticket sales during a media briefing on Saturday, 25 April. In Spain, Italy, Mexico and Hong Kong lottery draws are cancelled during lockdown. Online searches around the world related to online lottery has increased significantly from February to March. South Africa had an increase of 23%, where the USA and France had an increase of approximately 53%. In the UK online searches increased with 158% and in Australia, it increased by 171%. Italy’s searches increased the most in a month with 309%.
In the USA, Mega Millions and Powerball ticket sales are being affected by lockdown due to so many people that must stay home and holding on to every dollar that they have during this uncertain time. Powerball Product Group stated earlier in April that previous top prizes started with an annuity value of $40 million (approx. R742 million) and if there was no winner the prize would increase with a minimum of $10 million (approx. R186 million). The Group had to reduce the value of the initial top prize to $20 million (approx. R371 million) with minimum increases of only $2 million (approx. R37 million). They said that the future prize amounts will only be determined and announced prior to each drawing.
Sport events were postponed until later in 2025 and some even postponed until 2025 to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus. This measurement had an effect on sports betting, due to the fact that betting is based on the results of the event.
During these uncertain times it is difficult to predict to which extent the economy will respond to the current situation. Whichever financial decision you need to take, whether it is buying stocks or evaluating your existing investments, get expert advice. Consult with the professionals. Do all the necessary research before you make your next financial move, according to research in South Africa.
Top 4 Brokers
