Rand strengthens after Democrats take control of House

THE rand and JSE last week cheered the news that the Democrats had wrested control of the US House of Representatives from Donald Trump’s Republican Party, in a move that might curtail the president’s trade and tariffs agenda. The local currency breached the R14 mark against the US dollar for the first time since August.

The US midterm election results saw the dollar come under pressure after the Democrats won the House for the first time in eight years. The results were also interpreted as US dissatisfaction with leadership under Trump.

The local equities market rallied on the back of the US election results, with the all share index closing the trading session in the black up 250 points to 54 701 points, while the blue chip Top 40 index closed the session up 171 points to 48 296 points. Gains on the JSE were led by financial stocks, which rode the wave of a stronger rand. |