Rand in for troubling time

THE RAND opened weaker yesterday after a tumultuous week that saw the currency breech the R15 mark in what can be described as the worst week for the domestic unit and emerging markets in a while.

“Looking forward to the week, we have seen the US dollar slide against most currencies. We expect the pullback was mostly due to the market correcting itself after the US dollar went on a tear the past couple of weeks,” TreasuryONE senior currency dealer Andre Botha said.

“Speculation is that the US and China are trying to settle their differences on trade tariffs. This will further help emerging-market currencies should a deal be brokered, but it might take a while before we get there,” said Botha.

At 5pm, the rand was bid 13 cents firmer than Friday’s same-time bid at R14.65 a dollar. Against the pound sterling, the rand was 14c stronger at R18.69, and the rand firmed 12c to R16.75 against the euro.

On the JSE, the Top40 Index gained 0.99% to 51 101.53 points, while the All Share Index inched up 0.88% to 57 145.62 points.

Top gainers among the major movers were Barloworld, which rose 4.84% to R123.55, followed by Anglo American Platinum, which added 2.54% to R421.26. MTN dialled up 2.43% to R103.45, while RMI increased 2.23% to R39.

The biggest losers were Gold Fields, which dropped 2.97% to R34.60, followed by AngloGold Ashanti, which declined 1.9% to R105.65. Montauk fell 1.86% to R91.31, while Italtile eased 1.81% to R13.48, and South32 gave up 1.27% to end the day at R35.67. – Sizwe Dlamini