The Rand has strengthened against the Pound and jumped by almost 1% against the US Dollar due to the currency following the trend of commodity based currencies firming as speculation over the Federal Reserve’s tapering of its monetary easing programme lessens.
Adding to the Rand’s strength was a reduction of concern about slowing growth rates in China and the dovish speech made by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke last Wednesday which triggered a broad rally in commodity currencies.
The GBP/ZAR exchange rate hit a low of 14.9928 Rand per Pound
“The Rand continues to trade around R9.75 to R10.00 so at least the range seems to be contracting slightly,” Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said in a client note.
“There certainly does seem to be a little pressure building for a move back through last week’s lows of R9.774 and this could give the Rand some respite to R9.66 and even R9.55, but I would expect that to be a slow grind.”
The South African currency however remains vulnerable to the threat of further unrest and strikes in its vitally important mining sector. The potential for further labour unrest and mounting concerns over the nation’s power grid continue to weigh upon the country’s economy.
Despite the currency’s recent recovery over the past few days, it is still down by nearly 16% against the ‘Greenback’ this year. The reason for the currency’s big decline was the heavy sell-off in recent months as investors fretted about labour tensions in the mining sector and the overall economy.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.8091 <
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 14.9928 <
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 12.9058 <
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.0213 <
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 7.7624 <
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.4722 <
(Correct as of 09:40 am GMT)
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