Rand softer ahead of production figures

Markets
THE rand was softer early yesterday ahead of local mining and manufacturing production data due for release later in the day.

THE rand was softer early yesterday ahead of local mining and manufacturing production data due for release later in the day.

Statistics South Africa is due to release July domestic mining data at 11:30am and July manufacturing numbers at 1pm.

At 9:03am‚ the rand was at R10,9479 against the dollar from a close of R10,9267 on Wednesday.

Against the euro‚ the rand was at R14,1299 from a close of R14,1149 the previous day and was at R17,7394 against the pound from R17,7087 on Wednesday.

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) said in a morning note that the greenback had stabilised as Treasury yields had failed to push to new highs, but everyone was waiting to see if the rally could regain momentum.

“For now, dollar stability brings relief to the rand and the crosses. The dollar/rand tried to push through R11 on its own yesterday but ran into strong export orders and, without the support of dollar gains, traded back to start in the mid-R10,90s this morning,” RMB said.

“The unexpected widening of the current account deficit continues to highlight the imbalances in the economy, which saw sentiment towards the country turn sour. This was very clear in the immediate weakening of the rand, which has lost around 12c since the beginning of the week. If sustained, this poses upside pressure on the inflation rate, especially in the short term,” the bank said.

– BDLive