Rand remains under pressure, bourse dips

THE RAND opened firmer yesterday but was still under pressure trading within a range of R13.63 to R13.91.

Director and head market analyst of Dynamic Outcomes, James Paynter, said this was going to be another humdinger of a week.

“However, we are approaching some key resistance levels which we will be watching closely to give us some hints on direction for the coming weeks. And it is at these times… that one needs to have an objective view of where we are in the long, medium and shorter term trends to keep the current move in context.”

At 5pm the rand was bid 9 cents weaker than Monday’s same time bid at R13.77 a dollar. Against the pound, the rand was 3c softer at R18.14 and to the euro, the currency also eased 3c to R15.92.

Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said global markets remained concerned about the looming US-led trade war with China, an aggressive surge in protectionism focussed on increasing tariffs on US imports, and not just of Chinese goods.

“The rand is likely to remain volatile for the rest of the second and third quarter as it remains at risk from heavy portfolio outflows,” said Bishop.

Corporate treasury manager at Peregrine Treasury Solutions, Bianca Botes, said there was some room for the rand to recover, but the geopolitical landscape needed to give the market some room to breathe first.

“Should these tensions elevate and strong data from the US keeps making its way into the market, emerging market currencies will remain under pressure and one could very well see the rand target R14 (to the dollar).”

JSE stocks also took a dive, with the blue chip Top40 index declining 1.93 percent to 50 020.4 points, while the broader all share index inched up 1.72 percent to 56 253.31 points.

Leading losers were Growthpoint Properties, which declined 3.61 percent to R25.35, followed by FirstRand, which dropped 3.48 percent to R56.88. Echo Polska Properties fell 3.43 percent to R17.20, while Aspen Pharmacare gave up 3.41 percent to R254.73 and Steinhoff Africa Retail was 3.27 percent lower at R17.46.

Among the top gainers were Sibanye, up 3.69 percent to R9.28, followed by Brait, which increased 3.36 percent to R38.50.

Dis-Chem advanced 3.34 percent to R26.58, while PSG Konsult added 2.58 percent to R9.95.