BN Daybreak Fri 23 Jan: Musk’s Davos Debut; PA, FF Shock DA; Sasol, Truworth shine, Clicks dives

Today on BizNews Daybreak, Alec Hogg unpacks the key stories shaping your day:Musk at Davos: Despite past criticism, Elon Musk makes a surprise appearance at the World Economic Forum, declaring full self-driving a “solved problem.”Political Earthquakes: The Democratic Alliance faces shock by-election losses as the Patriotic Alliance surges in George and the Freedom Front Plus makes major gains in Tshwane.Market Moves: Sasol jumps 14% on higher oil prices, Mr Price gets a vote of confidence from Allan Gray, and Investec continues its massive share buyback.Tech & Trade: GinsGlobal’s Anthony Ginsberg on the US tech rally and how South Africa can secure better trade deals with a booming American economy.Start your day with the context you need to win.Listen now for the full insights..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.Edited transcript of the interview:.Market wrap: Trump’s "Greenland Pivot" and the strengthening RandThe "Greenland pivot" by Donald Trump continued to rally Wall Street last night, with both the S&P and NASDAQ moving higher. The S&P rose by half a per cent, while the NASDAQ finished just under 1% better. The Rand is also continuing to strengthen, starting today at R16.12 to the US Dollar, having started the week at R16.40. Gold is closing in on $5,000—it is only $50 short right now—while "digital gold," Bitcoin, hovers unchanged around $89,000.Among US heavyweights, Meta was the big winner last night, up 5.5%. Tesla also shone on the day that Elon Musk finally made his Davos debut. On the JSE, Sasol jumped 14% on a higher oil price, and a 2% gain for financials helped the market overall to a "green day" after a sluggish start to the week.International News: TikTok’s US firewall and Intel’s strugglesInternationally, TikTok and Intel led the overnight news. TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have closed a deal to establish a joint venture to transfer parts of TikTok’s US business to non-Chinese owners. This newly created US entity will be owned by Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and existing ByteDance investors, effectively creating a firewall around US operations.Meanwhile, President Trump says he has completed interviews with candidates to succeed Jay Powell as Fed Chairman. In the tech sector, the struggling chipmaker Intel issued a lacklustre forecast for the current quarter. Despite market bets on new products, Intel claims supply shortages are making it difficult to meet customer demand.The Greenland framework and EU relationsWe are hearing more regarding the framework deal for Greenland reached on Wednesday between President Trump and NATO. Following the announcement, Trump stated he would not impose tariffs on certain European countries that were set to begin on 1 February. While the pivot has left many European allies scratching their heads, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick insists the relationship with the EU is "perfectly fine," noting that the framework is based on national security and the protection of shipping lanes.Local Politics: DA face shock By-Election resultsOur top local story focuses on politics, where the latest round of by-elections delivered shock results for the Democratic Alliance (DA) in both the Western Cape and Gauteng. Analyst Wayne Sussman, speaking with Chris Steyn, unpacked how the Patriotic Alliance (PA) snatched two wards from the DA in George.In Ward 17 (Conville/Rosemore), the PA grew from 1% to 60%, largely by winning over voters from smaller parties like Good and the PBI. In Gauteng, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) provided the big story in Centurion. Although the DA held the ward, their vote share declined, while the FF+ grew from 16% to 44%, coming within 250 votes of a major upset. This result suggests the FF+ could be a significant force in the upcoming 2026 local government elections.Elon Musk’s Davos debutIf you ever doubted there has been a shift at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Elon Musk’s appearance confirms it. After previously dismissing the WEF as "boring" and an "unelected world government," Musk made a last-minute appearance in Davos yesterday.Speaking to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Musk set ambitious timelines for his "Optimus" humanoid robots, predicting they could be for sale to the public by the end of next year. He also claimed that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) is now essentially a "solved problem," noting that some insurance companies are offering half-price premiums to customers using the software due to its safety record.Investment outlook: Is the US Tech bubble bursting?Anthony Ginsberg, founder of Gins Global, argues there is still value to be found in the US market, particularly in small caps and robotics. He notes that the US economy is "going gangbusters," with GDP growth approaching 4%.Ginsberg also offered a roadmap for South Africa to secure better trade deals, suggesting that the country needs to "thread the needle" on AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) and appoint business-minded ambassadors to help reduce tariffs. He will be sharing further insights at the BizNews Conference in March.Corporate News: Mr Price, Truworths, and ClicksMr Price: The fashion retailer received a vote of confidence from Allan Gray, which increased its stake to over 10%. This comes despite market criticism of Mr Price’s acquisition of a German retailer.Truworths: The group reported a "tale of two markets." While South African sales dipped by 4%, its UK division, Office, continues to shine with sales growth of over 6% in sterling.Clicks: Shares dropped 6% after a warehouse system delay in Cape Town left shelves empty on Black Friday, costing the retailer an estimated R120 million in lost sales.Investec: The group remains active in its share buy-back programme, having deployed over £37 million in London and R1.1 billion in South Africa since August to reduce its share count.Now you have the edge. For the full interviews and the details behind these stories, head over to biznews.com. I’m Alec Hogg; thanks for starting your morning with us. Now, go and seize the day!

BN Daybreak Fri 23 Jan: Musk’s Davos Debut; PA, FF Shock DA; Sasol, Truworth shine, Clicks dives

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