Kwacha under strain
SUSTAINED demand for the dollar has continued to characterise the market with the Zambian Kwacha adding to its losses in the trading session.
Absa Bank Zambia reports that sustained importer demand from corporates across different segments pushed the Kwacha up to close at K20.55/20.60.
According to Absa Bank in its daily market report, this was lower than its opening level of K20.45/20.50 on the bid and offer respectively.
“In the near term, the local unit is anticipated to lose more ground on very low dollar supply,” Absa said.
Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank (ZICB) said the Kwacha continued to trade on the back foot despite copper trading just above the US$6,800 levels per tonne.
ZICB indicated that the local unit opened at 20.50/20.55 and was unchanged from its previous days close.
“While most global currencies strengthened on the back of a possible win by Joe Biden in the U.S. Presidential election, the local currency moved in the opposite direction.
“The Kwacha closed at 20.55/20.60, a downward movement compared to its open of 20.500/20.550,” ZICB said.
Elsewhere, the South African rand recovered against the United States (U.S) dollar on Wednesday afternoon, as global markets whipsawed amid a far closer U.S. presidential election than polls had predicted.
The rand was at 15.96 per dollar, 0.3 percent stronger than its previous close after trading more than one percent weaker against the U.S. currency in the morning session.
Meanwhile, copper prices fell on Thursday as traders exercised caution amid a nail-biting U.S. presidential election that could drag on with legal actions.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.2 percent to US$6,825 a tonne.