Cyril Ramaphosa lying
South Africans Abroad

Local fundamentals remain weak as Rand slides thanks to proposed land expropriation plans

The ground the ZAR gained against the Dollar last week, as the greenback slid on trade woes and as local sentiment was boosted after China pledged to invest billions in South Africa, has been lost in the aftermath of Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the ANC will seek to amend the constitution to allow the redistribution of land without compensation.

eskom
South Africans Abroad

Rand loses 1.3% alongside dismal Eskom financials and escalating trade war

The Rand slumped more than 1.3% on Monday, as uncertainty over trade tensions intensified following US President Donald Trump’s latest attack on China, and as Eskom announced a dire set of results. By 08:00 this morning the local currency was at 13.47 to the Dollar, trading 0.73% stronger than yesterday’s low of 13.57. Not a great a start to the week after last week’s relatively strong showing.

load shedding eskom rand
Business & Finance

Can the Rand continue its rise against the major currencies?

The past week has been a very volatile and confusing one for Rand analysts. It started on Monday when the market was in “risk on” mode, with investors looking to capitalise on improved sentiment throughout the world. This quickly changed on Tuesday when trade war rhetoric flared up again as the US and China implemented additional tariffs on each other. This caused an emerging market sell-off, reversing all previous Rand gains. Since then, however, the Rand has been on the up.

Ramaphosa SONA reply
South Africans Abroad

Rand hits strongest level in a month as emerging markets climb off the back of a softer US Dollar

The Rand firmed 1%, or more than 15c, against the Dollar on Monday. This was its best level in a month at 13.30 to the Dollar, as renewed risk-on sentiment hits markets on subdued US data. The somewhat surprising move by the local currency will be cheered by local consumers but will likely be greeted with dismay by local miners and owners of Rand hedge stocks.

Online banking fraud
South Africans Abroad

Trade wars and hikes push down on emerging currencies and the Rand

We have progressed quite drastically over the past week, last week we saw the Rand move from 17.83 to 18.45 against the GBP in the space of 24 hours. The ZAR is known for feeling the brunt of emerging market selloffs, since it’s one of the most liquid EM currencies traded on the open market. Even in the absence of important data releases it looks like it could be another rough week ahead for the ZAR and other EM currencies.

South African Rand coins and stocks
South Africans Abroad

Rand sell-off continues amidst concerns over higher US borrowing costs and weak fundamentals

The Rand, along with its emerging market counterparts, has seen a significant sell-off in the last week. This action happens in the shadow of both the ECB (European Central Bank) and FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meetings this week. The local currency lost over 4% last week to reach a year low of R13.28 to the US Dollar. In anticipation of today’s Fed and ECB meetings, the Rand has weakened 0.82% from last week’s low, finding a new year-low of R13.39 to the USD.