Ahead of tomorrow’s trade balance figures for South Africa the commodity driven Rand strengthened to 9.0633 Rand per Dollar, a two-week high.
At the current exchange rate 1 US Dollar will purchase 8.9583 South African Rand as of 16:20 GMT
Economists are expecting that tomorrow’s report will show a narrowing of South Africa’s trade shortfall in March.
If the deficit does narrow from 9.5 billion Rand to 8.5 billion Rand as expected, it will go a long way to alleviating the pressure on South Africa’s current account balance.
According to Johannesburg-based analyst Quinten Bertenshaw, the trade figures could ‘show that the pressure on the current account is lightening up.’
Bertenshaw added that there is ‘no clear reason as to why the Rand should weaken’ given that precious metal commodities like gold are rallying.
Market movement on the whole is likely to be limited prior to this week’s influential central bank announcements.
The European Central Bank is expected to cut rates in response to a recent stream of less-than-impressive Eurozone data, and as one industry expert commented: ‘The expectation that the ECB might lower rates is a factor in the Rand strength as is the fact that the Euro has also bounced since last week.’
Over in the US meanwhile, the odds of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee maintaining current stimulus measures when it meets on Wednesday are increasing following Friday’s unexpectedly weak GDP data for the world’s largest economy.
Current South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rates
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The South African Rand/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.1113 >
The South African Rand/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.0852 >
The South African Rand/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.0718 >
The South African Rand/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.1056 <
The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 8.9583 <
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.9278 <
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 11.7572 <
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.3485 >
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 8.9210 >
(Correct as if 16:20 GMT)
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