Investments | The case for investment-linked endowments. US GDP data boost dollar

The JSE's All-Share Index lost half a percent on Thursday, with MTN down more than 3% after the Nigerian authorities ordered it to pay more than R1.3 billion in overdue taxes. Clicks climbed 6% after a strong set of results.

The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Thursday after data showed the US economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the third quarter, once again defying dire warnings of a recession that have lingered since 2022.

Gross domestic product increased at a 4.9% annualised rate last quarter, the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its advance estimate of third-quarter GDP growth. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast GDP rising at a 4.3% rate.