JOHANNESBURG - THE RAND and stocks firmed slightly yesterday, as the dollar weakened.
At 5pm, the rand bid at R15.03 to the dollar, 7 cents stronger than at the same time on Friday.
On the JSE, the all share index gained 0.16 percent to 59508.8 percent, while the Top40 index was up 0.11 percent to 54520.69 points.
Meanwhile, Russian stocks hit new record highs yesterday, supported by rising oil prices, while the rouble held near its mid-August peak as the dollar weakened broadly ahead of a US Federal Reserve meeting this week.
The rouble gained 0.4 percent to trade at 72.99 to the dollar, while Moscow stocks jumped almost 1 percent as oil prices climbed, pushing Brent back above $50 (about R755) a barrel, buoyed by hopes that a rollout of coronavirus vaccines will lift global fuel demand.
The first shipments of vaccines were speeding across the US as part of a mission to inoculate more than 100 million people by the end of March.
“There is definitely growing optimism that global economies will begin recovering from next year as more positive vaccine news flows,” said Piotr Matys, FX strategist at Rabobank.
“But there is also the harsh reality that most emerging currencies will struggle in the near-term as virus cases still continue to rise.”
Riskier emerging market currencies got a boost as the dollar traded near a 2 1/2-year low against major peers ahead of a Fed meeting ending tomorrow where policymakers are expected to increase purchases of longer-dated Treasuries to contain a rise in yields.
Still, Turkey’s lira weakened 0.7 percent as the threat of US and EU sanctions coupled with worries around record coronavirus-related deaths offset data that showed a 10.2 percent jump in the country’s industrial production in October.
The Hungarian forint held near a one-month high against the euro.
REUTERS