The rand continued a three-day winning streak after the dollar, oil and gold prices weakened on hope a ceasefire agreement may be negotiated in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
At 6pm on Monday the local currency had gained 0.76% to R18.6261/$, 0.61% to R19.9664/€ and 0.23% to R23.3871/£. The euro gained 0.5% to $1.0719. This was the first time in more than three weeks that the rand has broken below R20/€.
Israel’s latest offer to Hamas involves a possible prisoner exchange and negotiated ceasefire in the Gaza strip, in a war that began on October 7 when Hamas raided Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking hostages.
On Friday, the local currency had its best day in five weeks after a poll released by international researcher Ipsos showed a further drop in support for the governing ANC, with SA’s latest general election due to take place in a month’s time.
Oil prices have been rising as tension escalated after tit-for-tat attacks by Israel and Iran, with concern the war in Gaza could spread to engulf a larger portion of the Middle East.
By evening trade in SA, Brent crude had fallen 0.75% to $87.40 a barrel as negotiators worked on the possible Israel-Hamas agreement. Brent is, however, still up 13% so far this year.
The JSE found itself in positive territory for a second trading day on Monday, after the all share added 1.4% on Friday after the release of the Ipsos poll. By the close of trade on Monday, the all share index was up 1.44% to 76,456 points, while the top 40 added 1.49%.
Among the major indices, precious metals and miners led the gains, up 3.26%. Resources improved 2.66%, with banks and industrial metals and miners about 1.9% to the good.
Shares in chicken producer Astral had their best day in almost four weeks after the company said it expected interim headline earnings per share to end-March could rise as much as 445%, albeit off a low base.
Astral was hard hit in 2023 when load-shedding reached epic proportions and water supply disruptions hampered its production.
Astral’s share price closed 5.26% higher at R148.02.
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