RAND NEWS ON FASTMOVING

As SA records its biggest trade deficit in 10 months, economists warn that trade tensions could keep the trade account in the negative for the next few months. read more

While South Africa attempts to shore up its own economy amid high inflation rates and a stuttering inherited financial system, the continent as a whole continues to grow. The big question, though, is whether South Africa will get left behind in terms of international investment if it doesn’t improve its financial situation, and how to avoid this. read more

After the reality check provided by the medium-term budget as to the sorry state of the country’s public finances, and with rising jitters about global growth, it is hard to be optimistic about the prospects for SA’s economic recovery. read more

Annual food inflation has continued to slow despite April’s rise in value-added tax (VAT), and some food items are actually cheaper than they were a year ago. read more

SA recorded a substantial surplus of R12bn in June, beating market expectations. This follows May’s surplus of R3.5bn, which was revised upwards by R0.33bn. read more

The 4.6% increase in CPI was a little better than expected — possibly thanks to zero inflation in food prices.  read more

Credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has cautioned that if the rand continues to weaken, SA may struggle to raise funds and service its foreign debt, although its vulnerability to tightening global financing conditions remains low. read more

With confirmation that local GDP declined by 2.2% in the first quarter on the year, followed by a major dip in the rand, doubts have been cast over South Africa’s so-called ‘Ramaphoria’. read more

The rand exchange rate crashed last week and local bond yields grew more expensive as news of an economic contraction triggered a negative investor sentiment and views on the local economy.  read more

South Africa's economy shrunk by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2018 after expanding by 3.1% in the final quarter of last year, Statistics South Africa said, knocking more than half a percent off the rand.  read more

The discretionary spending power of consumers is slowly returning as inflation slows and the rand strengthens.  read more

Share prices of clothing retailers rose strongly on Tuesday, lifted by the stronger rand, but analysts suspect the rally may end soon.  read more

The main stock indexes closed at record highs yesterday as investors, taking their cue from emerging market peers, piled into everything from banks and miners to telecoms. read more

Uncertainty about the rand exchange rate, as well as food prices, have put question marks over the sustainability of inflation drop. read more

Foreign investors sold nearly R600m worth of local shares on a net basis last week, bringing the tally of shares sold so far in 2017 to R31.7bn. read more

Cape Town - The chief cause of the rand’s depreciation over the past week was anxiety over the upcoming Fed rate hike, said Overberg Asset Management (OAM) in its weekly overview of the SA economic landscape. read more

The rand strengthened to its best level against the dollar in three weeks on Monday morning as speculation mounted that fraud charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan could be withdrawn. read more

The rand was range-bound against the dollar at midday on Wednesday ahead of the medium-term budget policy statement that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will deliver in Parliament later in the afternoon. read more

RISING new-vehicle prices cushioned a 13% crash in units sold to a 2.3% drop in sales value, according to Statistics SA’s motor industry trade data released on Thursday. read more

The rand has strengthened to under R14 to the dollar on the back of surprisingly positive GDP data for the second quarter – but economists warn that this isn’t necessarily a turning point in South Africa’s current decline to junk status. read more

THE rand remained at its multi-month highs against the dollar on Wednesday morning after gaining a further 30c against the greenback in the past two days. read more

Cape Town – The rand was trading at its highest level in over a year against the pound on Tuesday, as Turkey’s failed coup saw global markets bounce back from their risk-induced levels. read more

Cape Town - The rand reacted positively to the news that the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged, much against market expectation. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa’s rand traded firmer on Friday, taking advantage of a slip by the dollar ahead of a jobs report in the United States that could confirm bets of delayed rate hikes by its central bank. read more

FROM the rand’s perspective, now would be a good time for the government to announce whatever bad news or bizarre Cabinet appointments it might have up its sleeve. Of course, even at the best of times, given the nature of foreign exchange markets, it is tempting fate to suggest the rand’s short-term outlook is reasonably firm. These are certainly not the best of times; we are just weeks away from critical local elections, and there’s no sign of the economy doing anything more than skirting recession for the next year or so. And let’s not forget the possible ratings downgrade we have sidestepped so far. read more

THE rand strengthening overnight from nearly R15.50 to about R15.29 to the dollar hopefully means Brexit panic is abating. read more

Johannesburg - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has reassured South Africans that the country's banking and financial institutions can withstand the financial shockwaves caused by the result of the Brexit referendum, in which 52% of Britons voted to leave the European Union. read more

Cape Town – The rand plunged more than the day President Jacob Zuma fired former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene on Friday as the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU). read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand retreated on Thursday as investor confidence was rattled by data showing the economy had contracted sharply in the first quarter, raising the risk of recession just as the country dodged downgrades to sub-investment grade. read more

Johannesburg - The rand yesterday (16 May) hit a two-month low against the dollar and government bonds weakened sharply after reports, denied by the government, that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan faces arrest. read more

Johannesburg - South African government bonds weakened sharply and the rand hit a two-month low against the dollar on Monday after a newspaper report, denied by the government, that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan faces arrest. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand retreated against the dollar early on Thursday, giving up a minor rebound back from six-week lows as global and domestic growth concerns rattled sentiment towards the continent's most industrialised economy. read more

The rand firmed for a third consecutive session against the dollar on Tuesday (12 April) – trading at R14.66 by 14h20. read more

The rand softened against the US dollar in morning trade on Tuesday (5 April) ahead of a vote in Parliament to have president Jacob Zuma removed from office. read more

The rand has broken the R15/$ ceiling on Wednesday (30 March) after US fed chair Janet Yellen surprised on Tuesday night with dovish comments, depreciating the dollar against most currencies. read more

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has delivered his 2016 budget speech to Parliament, after which the rand weakened from R15.23 to R15.58 against the US Dollar. read more

The rand rallied to under R15.30 to the greenback on Thursday (18 Feb) as the local unit, although taking a while, suddenly became a “yield play”, Adam Phillips, independent treasury consultant at Umkhulu Consulting, told Fin24. read more

The South African rand continues its recovery from record lows against the dollar in January, following talk that the Reserve Bank may hike interest rates again. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand weakened in early trade on Tuesday (9 Feb), caught in the global sell-off with investors rushing to safe-haven assets as fears of a global economic slowdown weighed. read more

The rand lost further ground against the US dollar on Tuesday, after a move by the Reserve Bank to temper the local unit’s volatility. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa is moving closer to a recession and possible credit-rating downgrade to junk after the rand collapsed and as investors lose faith in the ability of President Jacob Zuma’s government to stem the slide. read more

The rand remained on fragile ground against the dollar on Wednesday, with scope to revisit the previous day's record lows as investors fretted about a possible credit rating downgrade for South African at the end of the week. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand weakened on Friday as flagging consumer confidence added to mounting economic concerns, while US payrolls later in the session could provide fresh direction.  read more

Johannesburg - The rand strengthened against the US dollar on Thursday, extending its gains into a second session as the greenback slid on weaker-than-expected manufacturing activity.  read more

The strong dollar is increasingly casting a pall over the rand, which will eventually negatively affect local economic indicators — at a time when the economy is already struggling. read more

Two of SA’s economists are predicting that the rand may slide to as much as R11.60 or weaker to the dollar in the near future and they say this will have a "severe impact" on everything from the price of food to imported vehicles. read more

The South African rand has broken past R11.00 to the US dollar, and prospects are not looking good for the currency heading to the last quarter of the year. read more

The South African rand was dangerously close to breaching R11 to the dollar on Wednesday 10 September 2014, as the country’s current account deficit widened amid slight economic recovery. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand fell to its lowest level in a week against the dollar on Tuesday, as another indicator showing domestic economic weakness and a public holiday in the United States combined to push the currency lower.  read more

The retail price of petrol in South Africa will remain unchanged at R14.33 rand a litre from next Wednesday, the Department of Energy said on Friday. read more

The rand firmed against the dollar late on Friday after the US nonfarm payrolls report showed America created fewer jobs than expected in July, easing fears that interest rates in the world’s largest economy would be raised soon. read more

Johannesburg - Growth in credit demand from South Africa's private sector quickened to 8.69 percent year-on-year in June, from 8.34 percent in May, reserve bank data showed on Tuesday. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar on Tuesday, taking impetus from benign US inflation numbers and reports that striking metalworkers were mulling a new wage deal to end a three-week stoppage. read more

Johannesburg - The rand edged down against the dollar on Wednesday as a national engineering strike entered its second day, weighing on investor sentiment in Africa's top economy. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's consumer inflation quickened slightly to 6.1% year-on-year (y/y) in April from 6.0% in March, breaching the top end of the Reserve Bank's target band once again, Statistics South Africa data showed on Wednesday.  read more

Johannesburg - The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, governor Gill Marcus said on Thursday. read more

Comments by Department of Energy Officials that the mechanism for calculating the basic fuel price should be reviewed have been welcomed by the Democratic Alliance and the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  read more

Johannesburg - The rand slid against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Wednesday after worse than expected local retail sales data as well as strong support for the greenback against the euro following remarks made yesterday by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).  read more