Johannesburg - The rand was slightly stronger in midday trade on Thursday but remained within a broader range as markets sought to consolidate following the commodities selloff earlier in the week.
“The volatility we experienced after the big commodity selloff is still around and we need to see where we are going to go to from here. For the moment we are somewhat range bound between R9.10 and R9.25/$‚” said Ockert van Niekerk‚ head of trading at PSG.
Gold remained under pressure in early trade on Thursday‚ losing more than $30 to hit $1 340/oz in early action‚ but rebounded soon after to trade at around $1 394/oz at midday.
Van Niekerk said that despite the uncertainty‚ bond demand remained intact‚ “which means that there is still value in SA compared to many other markets. On the other side we’re still a commodity reliant currency‚ so we remain range bound for the time being.”
At 11:28‚ the rand was bid at R9.1379/$ from R9.1701/$ at Wednesday’s close and R9.1202 at Tuesday’s close.
The local currency was bid at R11.9250/€ from its previous close of R11.9423/€ and at R13.9157 against sterling from R13.9657 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3049 from $1.3031 at Wednesday’s close and $1.3179 at Tuesday’s close.
“A lot of recent European data releases point to a global slowdown and growth is a big worry still. With the IMF downgrading growth worldwide‚ we’re definitely going to see lower rates for longer‚” said Van Niekerk.
“The volatility we experienced after the big commodity selloff is still around and we need to see where we are going to go to from here. For the moment we are somewhat range bound between R9.10 and R9.25/$‚” said Ockert van Niekerk‚ head of trading at PSG.
Gold remained under pressure in early trade on Thursday‚ losing more than $30 to hit $1 340/oz in early action‚ but rebounded soon after to trade at around $1 394/oz at midday.
Van Niekerk said that despite the uncertainty‚ bond demand remained intact‚ “which means that there is still value in SA compared to many other markets. On the other side we’re still a commodity reliant currency‚ so we remain range bound for the time being.”
At 11:28‚ the rand was bid at R9.1379/$ from R9.1701/$ at Wednesday’s close and R9.1202 at Tuesday’s close.
The local currency was bid at R11.9250/€ from its previous close of R11.9423/€ and at R13.9157 against sterling from R13.9657 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3049 from $1.3031 at Wednesday’s close and $1.3179 at Tuesday’s close.
“A lot of recent European data releases point to a global slowdown and growth is a big worry still. With the IMF downgrading growth worldwide‚ we’re definitely going to see lower rates for longer‚” said Van Niekerk.