RAND HIGHER, BOURSE LOWER

THE RAND inched firmer yesterday as hopes of a rapid global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic continued to feed risk appetite.

At 5pm the rand was up 0.11 percent at R16.80 to the dollar, having earlier touched a session-best of R16.71 in an advance across emerging markets stemming mainly from Friday’s better than expected jobs data from the US.

“The domestic currency continues to strengthen as it reflects improving global financial market sentiment, said Annabel Bishop, chief economist at Investec.

“The latest economic data to support improving risk-on investor attitude is the unexpected drop that occurred in the US unemployment rate.”

Government bonds turned weaker following lat week’s rally, with the yield on the 10-year instrument up 7 basis points to 9.01 percent.

The Johannesburg stock market slipped as banks and industrial companies fell despite a rise in crude and gold prices. The JSE Top40 index was down 0.16 percent to end the day at 50 117.63 points while the all share index fell 0.07 percent to close at 54 684.32 points.

Shares in petrochemicals giant Sasol increased by almost 15 percent as crude oil prices went up as the Opec+ nations agreed output cuts through July.

However, crude dipped later yesterday as Saudi Arabia clarified that there will be no additional voluntary cuts by the Gulf nations in July.

The mining index was up 1.3 percent and the gold index index rose 3.2 percent yesterday.

Meanwhile, emerging-market shares extended gains into a seventh session as investors cheered the prospect of a swift global economic recovery. I Reuters