WRAP markets: Rand ends the day at R $ 13.83 / $

Constant Rand in today's session

The rand which opened at R $ 13.82 / $ Monday closed the day up to R $ 13.84 against the greenback.

Last week, the rating agency Standard and Poor's maintained the rating of the foreign currency debt from SA to BB and the debt rating in local currency to BB +, the outlook being stable.

The coming week will see data releases such as economic activity and consumer confidence, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

"We
expect the business climate to be weakened by weak demand,
while consumer confidence is likely to decline less and less
administered prices and mediocre job gains, "said Mpho Tsebe and Elena Ilkova, badysts at RMB Research.

TreasuryONE Closing Indicators:

USDZAR 13.8392

EURUSD 1.1336

EURZAR 15.6803

GBPUSD 1.2811

GBPZAR

AUDZAR 10.0174

CADZAR 10.4647

CNYZAR 1.9917

ZARJPY 8.1741

CHFZAR 13.8628

Gold 1 223.30

Plate 839.75

Plad 1 130.80

Rhod 2 565.00

Irid 1 470.00

Ruth 268,00

Copp 6 236.50

Brent 59.69

Gold ZAR 16 921.05

ZAR dish 11 615.67

OverviewUS equity futures advanced alongside European and Asian equities, as investors are more optimistic about interest rate and trading prospects following another tough week in the markets. Treasury securities declined, while government bonds in Italy and Greece rallied. Banks and carmakers led the Stoxx Europe 600 index upward, with almost all sectors in green, after rising stocks in most Asian countries, with the exception of China and from Australia.

The yen and the dollar dipped as investors showed a renewed appetite for risk. Italian bonds jumped as state officials began to explore possible scenarios for reducing the budget deficit in 2019, as markets climbed in Greece after one of the country's banks unveiled a plan to manage the deficit. loans in difficulty. Credit default swap indices, for both high-yielding European debt and high-yield debt, fell in line with the general risk climate, with the cost of insurance against the risk of default returning to its highest level in two years.

Investors will focus this week on Federal Reserve speeches and minutes of policy meetings likely to give clues to the outlook for rates for 2019, as well as a key meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in anticipation of the next scheduled escalation of tariff increases. After stock markets slipped last week and bond traders lower expectations of the pace of tightening US monetary policy, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has the opportunity to shed light on prospects for a break in his Wednesday speech.

"If the US Federal Reserve really feared that the fall of the stock markets would cause significant balance sheet problems, for example on the US corporate side, it could easily step back," said Berenberg Senior Economist Kallum. Pickering, in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "You do not have the inflation of wages and prices that leads the Fed to say to itself:" We will have to create unemployment to stabilize the cycle. "

Elsewhere, the pound sterling rose after EU leaders reached an agreement on Brexit with British Prime Minister Theresa May. Bitcoin extended its recent fall to less than $ 4,000, while cryptocurrencies were in free fall.

Brent oil futures climbed to their lowest level for more than a year on Friday, as fears of oversupply persist.

The fall of Bitcoin worsened over the weekend, placing the 2018 crash near the worst bear markets of cryptocurrency. Bitstamp's prices show that the virtual currency, designed a little over ten years ago, dropped to $ 3,475.

It was trading at $ 4,033 at 7:40 am in London, according to Bloomberg's composite price. That's 5.3% lower than its Friday level at 5:00 pm, New York time, and about 79% lower than its December closing high. The crash, which also trapped rivals such as Ether and XRP, entered the same league as the 93% fall of Bitcoin in 2011 and its 84% ​​defeat from 2013 to 2015, when the center collapsed. encryption based in Tokyo. Gox.

In dollars, the damage is even greater this year: virtual currencies followed by CoinMarketCap.com have lost more than $ 700 billion in value since the peak of the market. While speculators believe that demand from institutional investors will spur a rebound, most deep-sea fund managers have lagged behind concerns about currency security, market manipulation and regulatory risk. The sale is underway to test the confidence of a few key players, Ryan Rabaglia, Hong Kong-based chief trader at OSL, a cryptocurrency trading company, said in a phone interview. "I think for this next effort, we will need this institutional money to be able to finally enter. Lend this support and help grow. "

Rand in the first exchanges

The rand rallied Monday morning in the early hours of the session, up 0.5% against the dollar.

The local currency traded at R $ 13.78 / just before 9am.

According to Bianca Botes of Peregrine Treasury Solutions, the local currency should trade under R14 / $ for the moment.

"On Friday night, S & P maintained South Africa's credit rating to a status of underinvestment, or junk, with a prospect that remains stable." The rand has not reacted to the Announcement or comments from the rating agency.However, urgent reform of the Treasury is needed if seek to climb back up the ladder to reach the investment category, "she said.

"This week's focus will be on the following major global events: US-China meeting, US GDP figures, Brexit process, Federal Reserve Chairman's statements to the media , in which we will seek guidance on the interest rate hike cycle locally, the data relating to the PPI and the trade balance will also be filtered. "