JOHANNESBURG - The South African currency edged stronger versus the greenback during European trade yesterday according to NKC Research.
The South African currency started the day on the back foot as the trade-weighted US dollar continued to strengthen on the back of Friday’s strong US employment figures, but the rand reversed losses as US bond yields ticked lower on concerns that the US-Sino trade tensions would not ease soon and cause harm to the US economy. At the close of local trade, the rand quoted 0.8 percent stronger at R14.22/$, after trading in the range of R14.19/$ - R14.41/$. The rand traded marginally stronger overnight. Expected range today R14.10/$ - R14.40/$.
South African bourse
The JSE All Share (+1.2 percent) ended higher yesterday led by gains in large industrial (+2.3 percent) and mining (+0.9 percent) shares. In the overall emerging market sphere, the MSCI Emerging Market Index (-0.4 percent) traded higher. In local news, Redefine Properties (+2.1 percent) shares were lifted after the company reported a 5.5 percent increase in full-year distributions.
Brent crude oil
The Brent oil price traded managed to trade firmer yesterday but growing global crude supply kept gains to a minimum. At the close of local trade, the Brent oil price quoted 1.4 percent higher at $73.53/pb. Crude prices traded lower during Asian trade this morning