Rand firmer ahead of busy week

THE RAND came out relatively weaker against the dollar early yesterday but later firmed to R13.13 during intraday trade, with the week ahead set to be a busy one, not just domestically but internationally.

TreasuryOne director and head of dealing, Wichard Cilliers, noted that the domestic currency started the week off around 3 percent stronger than where we were last week this time.

“For now levels towards R13.10 looks difficult to break, but if we get through there the R13 will be the next target. For now, levels towards R13.30 will be used to sell some dollars,” Cilliers said.

At 5pm, the domestic currency bid 2 cents firmer than Friday’s same time bid at R13.14 to the dollar. Against the pound, the rand was largely unchanged at R17.28 and to the euro, the currency eased 5c to R15.39.

Investec chief economist, Annabel Bishop, said the domestic currency had benefitted from R5.3 billion in net foreign purchases of South Africa’s portfolio assets over most of last week.

“Foreigners bought R6.2bn worth of South African bonds net of sales in the last four days of the past week and sold R0.9bn worth of South African equities, net of purchases.

Peregrine Treasury Solutions corporate treasury manager, Bianca Botes, said the key psychological level remained at R13, predicting a range of R13 to R13.30 yesterday.

“This week’s data is expected to reveal a subdued economy and some pressure on the rand is likely as we prepare for the announcements,” Botes.

Meanwhile, JSE stocks enjoyed fairly good gains with the blue chip Top40 index gaining 0.2 percent to 51 227.68 points, while the broader all share index inched up 0.26 percent to 57 313.14 points. Among leading gainers,

Sibanye increased 6.21 percent to R7.87, followed by Massmart, which rose 3.8 percent to R117.50.

Vodacom ticked up 3.19 percent to R137.95, while AngloGold

Ashanti added 3.07 percent to R114.50 and MTN scored 2.97 percent gains to close at R114.24. Losers on the day included

Globe Trade Centre, which sank 4.17 percent to R34.50 and Distell, down 2.22 percent to R132.

Capitec Bank dropped 2.14 percent to close at R931.80.