Rand jumps as dollar eases

The rand strengthened in early trade on Monday as tensions in the Middle East underpinned the price of oil and put the dollar on the back-foot.

The rand was at 18.95 against the dollar in early trade.

The dollar eased 0.1% against a basket of other major currencies.

“There are lots of stresses in global financial markets which risks spilling into rand volatility, but USD/ZAR looks happy around 19.00 and potentially range-bound for the next few weeks,” said Rand Merchant Bank analysts in a morning briefing.

Israeli-Hamas tensions have spiked again, prompting the price of oil to jump on concerns that Iran will be dragged into the conflict, RMB added.

Local investors will this week turn their attention to consumer inflation and retail sales data for hints on the South African Reserve Bank’s potential interest rate path when it meets in November.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was flat in early deals at 10.720%.