Rand subdued ahead of data-heavy week

The rand was little changed on Monday morning as investors await key market-moving events in the week ahead.

Locally, manufacturing production for October is expected to be released on Tuesday, and the median forecast is for manufacturing to have contracted for the fifth consecutive month, according to a Bloomberg poll.  

“The rand, which has been shaky against the dollar since the start of December, could depreciate if manufacturing production [declined] further in October,” said FXTM senior research analyst Lukman Otunuga.

At 9.55am, the rand was flat at  R14.6469/$ after ending the previous week at R14.635/$. It had weakened 0.15% to R16.2054/€ and 0.34% to R19.2883/£. The euro was little changed at $1.1065. 

Gold was up 0.14% to $1,462.024/oz while platinum was down 0.18% to $893.04. Brent crude lost 0.26% to $64.14 a barrel.

Consumer inflation for November is also due this week, with expectations that the headline figure will remain at October’s 3.7%. 

On the global front, analysts say the looming December 15 tariff hike on $156bn worth of Chinese imports may weigh on global market sentiment in the week.

“Any signs of trade tension resurfacing between the two largest economies in the world should spark risk aversion, which is negative for emerging markets,” Otunuga said.

The markets will also be watching the last meetings from the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank this week amid expectations that the central banks will keep interest rates unchanged.

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