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Rand slightly firmer but vulnerable after Paris attacks

Johannesburg - The rand bucked the emerging markets trend on Monday in the wake of deadly attacks in Paris, but remained vulnerable to broad-based dollar strength as investors sought the safety of the greenback.

Stocks opened down 0.4%, following falls on equity markets in Asia after Friday's suicide attacks in Paris added to US dollar strength.

However, government bonds were stronger, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 shedding 3.5 basis points to 8.600%.

At 08:54 the rand edged 0.2% firmer at R14.3760/$, reversing a drop to a record low of 14.4290 in the previous session triggered by poor liquidity.

Traders, however, expect the unit's recovery to be short-lived with dollar strength set to resume as risk aversion is on the rise.

"The rand could fall to another record low today if global risk aversion spikes due to Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris," Barclays Africa currency strategist Mike Keenan said.

"We expect rand investors to continue monitoring broad-based US dollar movements."

Attention this week is focused on Tuesday's US consumer price index data and Wednesday's US Federal Reserve October minutes. Locally investors will be looking to see whether the Reserve Bank will be hiking interest rates or waiting on the Fed before moving.

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Rand - Dollar
18.95
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.93
-0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.51
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
902.35
-0.4%
Palladium
1,003.00
+1.3%
Gold
2,196.75
+0.1%
Silver
24.62
-0.1%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
67,679
0.0%
All Share
73,910
0.0%
Resource 10
55,661
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,271
0.0%
Financial 15
16,524
0.0%
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