JOHANNESBURG - The South African currency reached a five-week high on the back of external tailwinds, as a soft inflation reading weighed on the greenback according to NKC Research.
At close of local trade, the rand quoted 0.55 percent stronger at R14.65/$, after trading in range of R14.64/$ - R14.78/$. The rand traded slightly firmer overnight and will look for direction from December’s manufacturing and mining figures, ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Sona tonight. The expected range of the rand against the dollar today is R14.65/$ - R14.95/$.
South African bourse
The JSE All Share (+1.52 percent) ended in the black yesterday led by gains in large gold mining (+2.13 percent) and resources (+3.62 percent) stocks. In the overall emerging market sphere, the MSCI Emerging Market Index (+0.63 percent) traded higher.
Brent crude oil
The Brent oil price extend its rally for a ninth day on Wednesday, fuelled by Opec supply cuts and after the America Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday that crude stockpiles dropped by 3.5 million barrels. At the close of local trade, benchmark Brent crude futures quoted 0.28 percent stronger at $61.26pb.
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