23 Jul 2019
The rand closed at R13.88 to the greenback on Tuesday afternoon.
The day's range was between R13.85 to R13.95.
23 Jul 2019
23 Jul 2019
JSE up 0.6%, US index futures rise
Laura Curtis, Bloomberg, with Fin24
US equity futures rose alongside stocks in Europe and Asia Tuesday amid a busy week of corporate earnings and encouraging signs for a US debt-ceiling deal and trade negotiations.
Oil stabilised and the dollar climbed.
The JSE All-Share index was up 0.6% at 12:30, while the rand was 0.15% weaker against the dollar at 13.88.
Futures on the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq pointed to a solid green open after President Donald Trump said he would support a deal to suspend the US government’s borrowing limit and boost government spending levels for two years. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained after upbeat reports from heavyweights including UBS, Santander, Hermes and AMS.
The benchmark’s index of carmakers rose as much as 3.3%, buoyed by positive news on BMW, Faurecia and Daimler. The British pound added to losses before the announcement of Prime Minister Theresa May’s replacement, likely to be former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The dollar rose for a fourth day and Treasury yields edged higher.
23 Jul 2019
The rand is a touch weaker this morning despite being the star emerging market performer yesterday, trading down to R13.82 levels before closing at R13.85 to the greenback. By 09:36, the local unit was changing hands at R13.87 after opening at R13.93 on the back of the stronger dollar.
"Wall Street closed stronger yesterday on expectations of good earnings reports from Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet out this week and ahead of the FOMC," said TreasuryONE in a morning note to clients. "Asian stocks have also closed in the green with tech stocks leading the way. The JSE was down yesterday with all sectors closing in the red."
Meanwhile, the pound remains under pressure from both a stronger dollar as well as Brexit uncertainty.
"Boris Johnson is widely expected to be confirmed as the new leader of the Conservative Party this morning and as UK Prime Minister tomorrow," says TreasuryONE. "There is a concern that he will pull Britain out of the EU on October 31 with no Brexit deal in place. The Pound is currently trading weaker ..."
The euro has also fallen below the 1.1200 level to 1.1195 this morning as the dollar firms ahead of the Fed FOMC meeting next week.
"The ECB monetary policy meeting this week is expected to reinforce their dovish stance and markets are anticipating a September rate cut as the ECB tries to stimulate growth and stoke inflation."
TreasuryONE said gold lost a bit of ground overnight in the face of the stronger dollar and is currently quoted at $1 417.00. Oil is unchanged at $63.30 as tensions in the Middle East continue, it said.