With South African economic news thin on the ground today movement in the GBP/ZAR pairing is being driven by UK developments, and with British data smashing expectations the Rand has softened against its peer.
At the current exchange rate 1 Pound will purchase 15.8519 South African Rand as of 10:05 GMT
While UK house price growth accelerated last month, manufacturing in the nation surged, with the index smashing economists’ forecasts by leaping from an upwardly-revised 54.8 to 57.2 in August.
However, the Rand was able to advance on rivals like the US Dollar as a gauge of Chinese manufacturing pushed above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction in August.
Although economists expected the measure to rise from 47.7 to 50.2 it actually came in slightly lower, at 50.1, but commodity-driven assets like the Rand still benefited from improved global trade prospects.
The GBP/ZAR exchange rate hit a high of 15.9825 Rand per Pound
The South African currency’s advance on the ‘Greenback’ was aided by the fact that US markets are closed for Labour Day celebrations.
In its morning report Absa capital noted: ‘Despite a larger than expected local trade deficit and confirmation that mining workers would embark upon a fresh round of strikes from September 3, the Rand enjoyed some short covering into the weekend. Friday’s resilience was attributed to suggestions from (Finance Minister) Gordhan that the authorities were looking at ways to stem Rand depreciation. However, given that […] there is a lot of anxiousness and event risk associated with this week’s deluge of US data, we expect trading to be relatively tentative for the next couple of days.’
As the week progresses US news, developments in Syria and Chinese data (like tomorrow’s non-manufacturing PMI) could all impact the Rand.
Local figures to watch out for include tomorrow’s business confidence gauge, Thursday’s Reuters econometer and Friday’s foreign exchange reserves data.
Additional GBP/ZAR movement could also occur in response to this week’s UK construction and services reports.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates:
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The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 10.1965 <
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 15.8519 <
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.4834 <
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.1331 <
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 7.9467 >
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.7021 <
(Correct as of 10:05 GMT)
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