The rand was pressured by souring global risk sentiment although local political tensions calmed after former president Jacob Zuma handed himself over to police, shortly ahead of the deadline, according to NKC Research.
Starting with global developments, there was initially little reaction to the largely as expected minutes of the June FOMC meeting, with markets relatively tame during the Asian session. That being said, the London and European session saw risk-off trade kicked into a higher gear.
There was no fresh news, but a strong follow-through technical demand, as Treasuries gain on the view that the Fed is less likely to allow inflation to run hot, and in response to the growing perception that the economy has reached peak growth and peak inflation.
The rand closed -0.08 percent weaker at the close of local trade, after trading in the range of R14.30/$ - R14.44/$. The rand traded slightly stronger overnight. The expected range of the rand against the dollar today is R14.20/$ - R14.50/$.
South African bourse
The JSE All Share (-2.34 percent) tracked global stock markets lower yesterday, with all sub-sectors ending the day in negative territory. In the overall emerging market sphere, the MSCI Emerging Market Index (-0.44 percent) traded lower.
Brent crude oil
The Brent oil price trended lower for the third straight session yesterday, as the markets weighed the uncertainty following the aftermath of recent Opec+ talks. At the close of local trade, benchmark Brent crude futures quoted 0.35 percent lower at $73.1pb. Crude prices reversed some of its losses during Asian trade this morning.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE