In a light news day for South Africa, movement in the GBP/ZAR pairing is being driven by UK developments, and as the developments happen to be particularly positive the Rand has softened against its British rival.
At the current exchange rate 1 Pound will purchase 15.0881 South African Rand as of 09:55 GMT
Yesterday the Rand lost ground against the Pound after the latter currency was boosted by stronger-than-anticipated UK services PMI.
Sterling was able to extend gains against the Rand this morning as UK industrial and manufacturing production data smashed estimates, further boosting Britain’s economic outlook. Industrial production advanced by 1.2 per cent in June year-on-year (rather than the 0.8 per cent gain expected) while manufacturing production increased by 2.0 per cent (double the estimate).
The GBP/ZAR exchange rate hit a high of 15.1687 Rand per Pound
Against the US Dollar the Rand was little changed ahead of South Africa’s biweekly bond auction.
Some industry experts expect that the auction will dictate the Rand’s direction.
According to Absa Capital; ‘There is not much in the way of data today, either locally or abroad, but Rand sentiment could be influenced by the appetite for this week’s bond auction.’
Absa Capital also asserted that 6-billion Rand of South African bonds had been bought by foreign investors over the last few weeks, a circumstance which ‘is reassuring for a country like South Africa, which has considerable external funding requirements, and is thus Rand supportive. We remain of the opinion that the local unit could hold steady within a 9.80 – 9.95 Rand per Dollar range over the coming days, especially if local manufacturing and Chinese trade data impress on Thursday.’
Additional GBP/ZAR movement could occur this afternoon following the release of the NIESR UK GDP estimate for July.
South African data to watch out for this week includes foreign exchange reserve figures, due out tomorrow, and a domestic manufacturing production report, scheduled for publication on Thursday.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates:
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The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.8550 >
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 15.0881 >
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.0703 >
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 8.7728 >
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 7.6481 >
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.4867 >
(Correct as of 09:55 GMT)
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