Rand slightly firmer

JOHANNESBURG. — The rand was slightly stronger against the dollar ahead of president-elect Donald Trump’s media conference later yesterday.

It was Trump’s first press conference since winning the election and investors will be looking for more clues on his new policy.

Rand Merchant Bank chief currency strategist John Cairns said in a note that the focus for SA would be on how much emphasis Trump put on his promised fiscal boost and protectionism.

“Which is good for the rand and which is bad is not straightforward. Note that Trump will be inaugurated next Friday and he has promised a string of measures on his first day in office,” Cairns said.

What might put a spanner in the works, though, is the leaking of a classified report that indicates that Russian intelligence services have compromising material and information on Trump’s personal life and finances.

Wichard Cilliers, head of dealing and a director at TreasuryOne, said the rand’s performance this week had been unexciting and the start of the year lacked the volatility we had become accustomed to last year.

He said the rand had traded in only a 35c range to the dollar so far this year and was currently bouncing between R13,55 and R13,80, with no clear direction besides tagging along with fluctuations in the euro-dollar. —