Rand firms as China soothes trade-war worries
The rand was firmer on Friday morning, in its second day of gains as China’s latest move, which eased trade war concerns, improved appetite for risky assets.
Despite its latest rally, the rand looks set for its worst month against the dollar since February, according to Iress data, as fears of a global recession and trade war concerns weighed on emerging-market currencies.
The markets rallied after China said on Thursday that it had started discussing face-face-face trade talks with the US. A slight relief after the trade dispute escalated last week after the two economic superpowers imposed further tariffs on each other.
“As long as the lines of communication are open, there is hope, but there seems to be little sense of urgency from either side. As far as Trump is concerned, stock markets, jobs and his polls are good, there’s no incentive to compromise,” said senior market analyst at Oanda Craig Erlam.
“All this hot air about talks doesn’t fill me with the same optimism it does other investors,” Erlam said.
At 09.56am, the rand had firmed 0.52% to R15.2474/$, 0.7% to R16.8296/€, and 0.6% to R18.5635/£. The euro has weakened 0.18% to $1.1037.
Gold was down 0.22% to $1,524/oz while platinum was up 0.92% to $927.65. Brent crude lost 1.23% to $60.2 a barrel.
Source: businesslive.co.za
