Rand retreats above R14 to the dollar as latter recovers
The rand was weaker on Tuesday afternoon, hovering around R14 to the dollar, as the latter pared some of its losses from previous sessions.
Comments from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Friday, that the world’s most influential central bank is listening closely to the market, put some pressure on the greenback. Powell’s hints that 2019 may see fewer interest-rate increases than expected has broadly supported risk assets.
The dollar, however, pared losses slightly on Tuesday afternoon, lifted by developments in the US-China trade talks, said Oanda analyst Dean Popplewell.
Officials from the world’s two largest economies have expressed optimism that a trade deal could be struck, but traders remain cautious, London Capital Group’s head of research, Jasper Lawler, said.
At 2pm, the rand was 0.69% weaker against the dollar at R13.9852, 0.6% against the euro at R16.0333, and 0.64% against the pound at R17.8599. The rand earlier reached an intra-day weakest level of R14.0496.
At the same time, the euro was flat at $1.1464, while the benchmark R186 government note was bid at 8.815% from 8.76%.
Source: businesslive.co.za
