The Daily Forex Market Report

Good morning

It’s a particularly soggy morning out there today but at least this heavy rain is coming now and not over the long weekend, something that will be of particular comfort to those making the annual pilgrimage to Splashy Fen!!!

These are the mid rates at 6:30 today:

Market News

• The weather is miserable and the Rand is not having a great time either as what looked like a concerted effort to claw back lost ground has now turned into a reversal of our fortunes.  After opening at R19.06 to the Dollar on Monday morning we made it to R18.75 during the morning session yesterday, but that all changed as the day wore on and we’re back at R19.04 this morning. 
• After last week’s US headline driven rollercoaster ride this week so far has been eerily quiet with no new developments coming from the White House for two consecutive days.  There’s zero doubt that fresh headlines will drive price action in the coming days and weeks, we just don’t know in which direction, but for the time being the Dollar has enjoyed a spot of “no news is good news” over the week thus far while financial markets have also stabilised somewhat.  After touching multi-year lows last week the Dollar Index nudged higher yesterday which unfortunately for the Rand meant we slipped back above the R19.00 threshold. 
• The following is from CNBC:  The Dollar rose against the Euro and Yen on Tuesday, showing tentative signs of recovery following a sharp selloff that saw the Dollar Index tumble more than 3% last week. Investors nonetheless remain cautious on concerns about the impact of US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on the US economy. “Last week was all about deleveraging, liquidation, and asset re-allocation out of US assets. This week’s tone is calmer in what is a holiday-shortened week,” said Prashant Newnaha, senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities.
• Another boost for the Dollar came from US market data releases that pushed back against the prevailing narrative of lower growth and higher inflation.  The Empire State manufacturing index came in stronger than expected which points to resilient activity in the sector, and at the same time a report on US import prices unexpectedly fell which is good news on the inflation front.  Granted, most of the data in these reports was gathered before the onset of the “tariff tantrum” on the 2^nd of April, but the Dollar would have benefited from the news yesterday nonetheless. 
• On the local front we are still waiting to for the final outcome of the ANC’s showdown talks with multiple opposition parties with their proposed VAT hike along with the structure of our GNU at the centre of the talks.  The Rand is hopeful that comments from the likes of the DA mean that the GNU will continue as is while the strained SA consumer base is also hoping that the VAT hike will be scrapped, which seems likely. 
• Local market data today sees our February retail sales report at 1pm and internationally all eyes will be on FED Chair Jerome Powell as he gives a speech this evening.
• Possible USD mid rate trading ranges in the Rand today are R18.85 and R19.15.

GLOBAL INVESTMENT OFFERING!!!

Foundation Fund Managers gives you the opportunity to invest in international shares which gives you direct access to owning the likes of Google, Mastercard, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Home Depot, Ferrari, VISA, Microsoft or any other company listed on the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ or NYSE.

We also offer local share portfolios with a bespoke selection of stocks listed on the JSE.   

For more information please contact Hadyn Little on:

084 910 8078 or [email protected]