Rand update
The rand hovered around the R15.40 level for most of the day before closing slightly firmer at R15.38. This morning, we opened weaker at R15.44 as the dollar trades firmer in the Far East. The short-term range for the rand remains R15.30/R15.50, with the local currency likely to track international currency movements.
It was a quiet day on the commodity front as well yesterday, with metals and oil all closing reasonably flat on the day. Gold and Platinum are trading a touch weaker this morning at $1,817 and $970, respectively, while Palladium is up at $1,882. The price of oil continues to climb as supply remains tight. Brent and WTI are both up by over 1.0% this morning at $87.33 and $84.96, respectively.
Markets are betting on earlier and faster rate hikes from the Fed, pushing US Treasury yields higher. The 30y-yield is currently quoted at 2.17%, the 10y-yield is up at 1.84%, while the 2y-yield is now quoted above the 1.0% level at 1.04%. The DXY index is up slightly at 95.36, with the dollar trading at 1.1400 against the euro and at 1.3638 against the pound.
This morning, the Japanese Yen is trading slightly weaker after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged at -0.10%. US futures have opened weaker this morning while Asian markets are mixed. The local ALSI closed 0.58% stronger at 75,593 yesterday, led by a strong showing by industrials.
