Johannesburg – The rand rebounded somewhat at noon on
Tuesday to R8.74 to the greenback from R8.84/$1 in early Tuesday morning trade‚
after news that members of three of four transport unions engaged in industrial
action will return to work on Wednesday. This comes after the rand nearly
touched R9.00 to the greenback on Monday due to mining woes and investor
jitters.
“The rand is very much headline driven. We see news of
15‚000 freight workers that will return to work on Wednesday‚ which provided a
temporary relief rally to the rand. If there is a peaceful resolve to the
mining strikes and miners return to work‚ it would be good news for the rand‚”
a local trader said.
The Transport and Allied Workers Union (Tawusa)‚ the
Professional Transport Workers Union (PTWU) and the Motor Transport Workers
Union (MTWU) said earlier on Tuesday that they have advised the Road Freight
Employers Association (RFEA) that they will be suspending their participation
in the strike as of 4pm on Tuesday afternoon and all their members will be
returning to work on Wednesday. The three unions jointly represent about 15 000
employees. The trade union Satawu is still on strike.
At 11.55am‚ the rand was bid at R8.7491 to the dollar from
Monday’s worst level of R8.9945‚ Monday’s close of R8.8855 and R8.7575 at
Friday’s close.
It was bid at R11.3153 to the euro from its previous close
of R11.5222‚ and at R14.0006 against sterling from R14.2327 before.
The euro was bid at $1.2940 from $1.2965 at Monday’s close
and $1.3018 at Friday’s close.
The rand’s global backdrop‚ domestic fundamentals and
sentiment drivers are currently negative‚ but the currency has already given up
a lot of ground and a lot of bad news is consequently priced in‚ Standard Bank
said in a note on Tuesday.
“We expect that the rand will occupy a range somewhat weaker
than we have seen over the year so far. With considerable qualification in
mind‚ a band of R8.50 to R9.00 seems reasonable. However‚ we think that a
significant break either side of these bands would more likely be to the
upside‚” the bank said.
“We believe that SA’s large external funding requirement‚ by virtue of a gaping current account deficit‚ sits at the heart of the rand’s prevailing woes‚” the bank added.
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