After rallying against its peers as the falling odds of the Fed tapering QE before next spring boosted emerging-market currencies, the Rand was little changed as the local session progressed.
While last week’s surprisingly strong UK retail sales and employment reports kept the Pound buoyed and the GBP/ZAR pairing trading lower, the Rand consolidated gains against the US Dollar over the weekend.
The Pound Sterling/Rand exchange rate is currently in the region of 15.8897 as of 11:55 GMT
Ahead of this week’s inflation report for South Africa, and the presentation of the nation’s medium-term budget policy statement, the Rand was trading in the region of 9.7800 – in line with Friday’s closing level.
On Wednesday Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will outline the national budget, and investors will be searching for indications that the government intends to take decided action when it comes to tackling its budget/current account deficits.
As stated by a local trader; ‘Trading in the Rand will be dominated by the medium-term budget policy statement, while the Dollar may get some direction from the delayed September nonfarm payrolls, which were initially due on October 4th and are now due on Tuesday.’
However, the Pound continued to trade higher against its South African counterpart as UK house prices surged by 2.8 per cent in September.
The GBP/ZAR exchange rate hit a low of 15.6705 Rand per Pound
If this week’s US employment data shows that the world’s largest economy is struggling to produce jobs, as some industry experts suspect it will, the Rand’s bullish relationship with the ‘Buck’ could continue.
However, according to Tradition Analytics; ‘The potential exists for some negative data to be released out of the US and for the mini-budget to flag some risks pertaining to South Africa. It is not the kind of environment where significant further Rand strength is anticipated.’
Today’s US existing home sales report could inspire movement in the USD/ZAR pairing while tomorrow’s UK public finance report will influence GBP/ZAR fluctuations.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates:
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The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.8335 >
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 15.8897 >
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.3810 >
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.4076 <
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 8.3348 <
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.4475 <
(Correct as of 11:55 GMT)
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