| USD
The dollar closed off the week on a positive note, as it was seen consolidating weekly gains we haven’t seen in almost 7 months, upheld by an anticipation of a more aggressive approach on interest rate hikes in the year ahead. The dollar index appreciated to a high of 97.441 after reaching a low of 97.0550. EUR The single currency traded in a seesaw fashion for the better part of the day in Friday’s session, pressured by a thriving dollar. However, it was seen closing the day marginally firmer compared to its previous close. And closing off the week at $1.1148 after reaching a low of $1.1125. GBP The pound put on a new pair of heels and had a decent end to the week, despite a stronger dollar environment. It found some reprieve from the market pricing in a hawkish bias ahead of the Bank of England’s rates announcement later this week. The sterling closed the week at $1.34 after reaching a low of $1.3366. ZAR The rand had another volatile session on Friday and lost further ground, as the market continues to digest the latest dovish moves from the SARB. The rand was hammered by the dollar’s relative strength, along with the risk aversion bias from investors, which dominated throughout the session. We saw the local unit plunging from its opening of R15.4478/$ to a low of R15.4126/$ intraday and finally ended the week at R15.5804/$. On the economic calendar today, we have Money supply and Private Sector Credit for the month of December locally and an array of data from the US, UK, and Eurozone. We expect these data releases to move the market. Expected ranges for the day:
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