The South African rand gained today as optimism for an outcome of Greek debt-swap talks caused a rally of stocks and commodities, while also helping currencies of emerging markets.
Discussions about reduction of the Greek debt again cause optimism, not concerns. The meeting of European leaders ended in an agreement about sanctions on countries with high budget deficit. The positive news boosted commodities and the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index jumped.
South African fundamentals were also positive for the rand. Nations’ trade balance posted a surplus of 4.7 billion rand ($605 million) last month, while a deficit of 1.6 billion rand was expected. Economic data showed that households and businesses borrowed more money in December than was predicted by analysts.
USD/ZAR went down from 7.8280 to 7.7960 as of 20:25 GMT today. The daily minimum was 7.7530.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the South African Rand, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
