International

The dollar edged lower for a 5th consecutive session on Friday, on the back of poor US economic data on the day. The Non-Farm Payroll missed the mark, printing at 235K compared to the market’s expectations of 728K, an outcome which will most likely have an impact on the Fed’s timing of monetary policy tapering. The dollar index retreated further to a low of 91.947 before ending the session at 92.035.

The euro rose in its early activities on Friday, reaching a three week high ahead of the Non-Farm Payroll, although the single currency struggled quite a bit to hold on to those gains, as late trades saw the euro giving up its gains post the US data release to end the session slightly flat. Following a high of $1.1908, the single currency pulled back, consolidating to end the session flat at $1.1879.

The pound sterling was one of the best performers against the dollar on Friday, continuing to edge higher in the session on the back of a broadly weaker dollar. The cable rose to a two-week high of $1.3890 post the Non-Farm Payroll, before ending the session at $1.3860 on the day.

ZAR

The South African rand made a rebound in Friday’s session and closed the week on a high note, touching levels we haven’t seen in a week. This was on the back of a disappointing non-farm payrolls data release, that drove the dollar to weakness. The rand appreciated to a low of R14.2432/$ and closed the session at R14.3098/$.

We are expecting a quiet day in the way of data locally. Internationally, we have manufacturing data in Germany amongst others. The rand is most likely to be driven by ongoing global key events.

Expected ranges for the day:

• USDZAR: R14.2500/$ to R14.4000/$
• EURUSD: $1.1830 to $1.1900
• GBPUSD: $1.3800 to $1.3900