UPDATE 1-South Africa's rand weaker on EM sell-off, stocks flat

By Kitco News / September 03, 2018 / www.kitco.com / Article Link


* Rand weakens more than one percent on Turkey woes
* Stocks flat, tracking weak global markets (Update prices, analyst quote)JOHANNESBURG, Sept 3 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand wasmore than one percent lower on Monday as global emerging marketsremained on the back foot, while stocks were flat in tandem withglobal markets.


At 1613 GMT the rand was 1.12 percent weaker at14.8550 per dollar, after hitting a low of 14.9400.


Turkey triggered a sell-off in emerging market currencies asrisk aversion gripped emerging markets. Turkey's central bank signalled on Monday it could takeaction, seen as presaging an interest rate increase at thebank's next meeting on Sept. 13. Analysts said the central bankmay have inadvertently set financial markets up fordisappointment if it doesn't deliver a hefty increase."The Turkish central bank issue puts tremendous strain onemerging markets," said Afrifocus Securities portfolio ManagerCheslyn Francis.


"They have announced an intervention policy, which is stillto be seen and not specific," he said, adding the rand couldfirm if there is a strong intervention.Bonds were also weaker, with the yield up on the benchmarkgovernment debt due in 2026 down 5 basis points to9,005 percent.


A holiday in the United States muted trading activity inSouth African markets, analysts said.


On the bourse, the Johannesburg all-share index rose marginally by 0.7 percent to 58,711 points while the bluechip top-40 index was up 0.05 percent to 52,435 points."It is the beginning of a new month and we very often getfresh money coming into the fund managers. This could be pushingthe market slightly higher but volumes are still thin," saidGreg Davies, trader at Cratos Capital.


Hotel and casino group Sun International closed up7.10 percent after stronger than expected half-yearprofits. Weighing on further gains, market heavyweight Naspers fell 1.86 percent to 2,200 rand as Chinese technologygiant Tencent , in which Naspers has a 31 percentstake, extended its losses to 2.12 percent after the governmenton Friday intensified crackdown on online gaming. (Reporting by Nomvelo Chalumbira and Patricia AruoEditing by James Macharia)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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