The rand weakened against the US dollar on Monday morning as political and economic factors weighed on the local currency.
“The downgrade‚ combined with renewed industrial action in the local farming sector‚ has plagued local sentiment and ensured that the rand was back to its weakest levels since early December on Friday‚” Absa Capital said in a note on Monday‚ referring to the downgrade of SA’s sovereign credit rating by Fitch.
At 8.27am‚ the rand was bid at R8.7229 to the US dollar from its previous close of R8.6566 on Friday. The local currency was bid at R11.6711 to the euro from its previous close of R11.4872 and at R14.0797 against sterling from R13.9807 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3385 from its overnight close of $1.3272.
“This morning the dollar is on the back foot across the board - which‚ combined with the extent to which the rand has already weakened in recent days‚ implies that the rand could enjoy some short covering at the start of the week in relation to the dollar‚” Absa Capital said. - I-Net Bridge