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Rand slumps in early trade

The rand plunged in early trade on Friday, a day after a public spat about the mandate of the SA Reserve Bank unsettled markets.  

The local currency opened at R14.99 and was trading at R15.10 to the greenback at 08:30, its lowest rate in eight months.

TreasuryONE, in a note to clients on Friday morning, said the rand weakness was also caused by predictions by rating agency Moody's that the SA economy was likely to slip into a recession, and the ongoing trade war between the US and China.

On Tuesday Stats SA announced that SA GDP growth shrank by 3.2% in the first three months of the year, the biggest drop in a decade.

"Contradictory statements from the ANC regarding ownership of the Reserve Bank and what its mandate is also put the rand under pressure. President Ramaphosa affirmed the SARB’s independence, but confirmed that ANC would like to [wholly nationalise] the SARB but could not afford to do it in the immediate future," said TreasuryONE. 

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Rand - Dollar
18.83
+0.6%
Rand - Pound
23.77
+0.6%
Rand - Euro
20.33
+0.5%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.27
+0.5%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.6%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
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