The South African Rand is holding steady against the US Dollar as the markets await the release of this afternoon’s latest US Non-farm Payrolls data. The Rand saw some support from yesterday’s comments by the European Central Bank that it had ruled out making further interest rate cuts in the near future.
“It has recovered a little bit from recent lows because the dollar is a lot weaker after the ECB yesterday,” said Bidvest Bank chief dealer Ion de Vleeschauwer. “It looks like the European Central Bank is also looking to exit their bond purchases, probably a little more aggressively than the US Federal Reserve, and that’s why the dollar has taken a smack globally.”
South African Rand set to fall further
If the jobs data comes in stronger than expected than speculation will rise that the US Federal Reserve will choose to cut back on its monetary easing programme. The speculation has had a powerful affect on the Rand and other emerging market currencies as investors look to buy back into Dollars as they anticipate higher US rates and returns.
“We have got a series of very negative issues impacting simultaneously and sending a very strong message that all is not well in our economy,” the chamber’s chief executive Neren Rau told Reuters. “I’m sceptical about the capacity of exporters to take advantage of the weaker rand right now because they are under too much cost pressure.”
Labour unrest, a massive trade gap and ongoing global volatility are all dragging the Rand down.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.9417
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 15.4873
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.1519
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.4353
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 7.9099
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.6804
(Correct as of 11:50 am GMT)
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