Rand slips a fraction as Turkish lira falls again

The rand was marginally softer against major global currencies on Monday afternoon, seemingly taking its cue from slight risk-off sentiment towards emerging markets.

The euro was somewhat range-bound against the dollar, with markets still digesting commentary from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Friday, and the state of the US-China trade war.

Concern that SA may be in US President Donald Trump’s cross-hairs over land reform could still be denting sentiment, but it was likely that other factors were at play, including a resumption of trading on Turkish markets after a week’s holiday, said FXTM analyst Jameel Ahmad.

Last week, Trump tweeted about farm murders and land seizures in SA, and while the rand weakness was attributed to a stronger dollar, analysts said the issue still added an element of uncertainty for the local currency.