The rand was weaker on Monday morning, while the JSE was firmer compared to global peers, as investors looked ahead to the final month of trading for the year.
The local currency was trading in a tight range again as many market participants sat on the sidelines after Thursday’s US holiday, said RMB head of forex execution Matete Thulare.
In November, market sentiment was largely influenced by US president-elect Donald Trump’s victory. The rand, along with other emerging-market currencies, declined amid concerns about the so-called “Trump trade”.
At the weekend, Trump announced that he would impose “100% tariffs” on imports from Brics countries, effectively blocking them from US trading, if they proceeded with plans to introduce their own currency and move away from the dollar.
“Currencies were weaker across the board as the greenback rallied post Trump’s latest threat to impose trade tariffs against the Brics nations,” said Thulare.
“For the rand, current ranges continue. We expect R18.05 to R18.25 trades for now with a break and close either side required for new direction,” he said.
At 10.36am, the rand had weakened 0.47% to R18.1553/$ and 0.11% to R23.0253/£, while it had strengthened 0.44% to R19.0419/€. The euro was 0.71% firmer at $1.0499.
Globally, investors will be keeping a close eye on Monday’s economic data releases in the US, which include manufacturing and construction spending figures. This will be followed by a string of highly anticipated labour market reports later in the week.
Additionally, market participants will be monitoring speeches by key US Federal Reserve officials, including governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed president John Williams.
At 10.45am, the JSE all share gained 0.84% to 85,221.76 points and the top 40 was up 0.86%. Industrial metals had added 1.82%, industrials 1.26%, retailers 1.05%, financials 0.63%, food producers 0.52%, SA listed property 0.5%, banks 0.36% and resources 0.26%. Precious metals had lost 0.72%.
At the same time in Europe, the FTSE 100 was little changed, while France’s CAC 40 had lost 0.87% and Germany’s DAX 0.14%.
Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite gained 1.13%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.56% and Japan’s Nikkei 0.8%.
In the commodities markets, gold lost 0.72% to $2,631.25/oz and platinum 0.13% to $941.42/oz. Brent crude was 0.64% firmer at $72.49 a barrel.
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