The rand flirted with levels below R12.40/$ while gold gained more than 1% to $1,256/oz on Monday morning in the wake of Friday’s US "healthcare flop". Markets trading ahead of the JSE’s opening were generally weaker as investors turned sceptical on US President Donald Trump’s ability deliver promised tax breaks for business after he suffered a revolt against his "Trumpcare" bill by his own party in the House of Representatives. The Dow Jones Industrial index fell 0.29% to 20,597 points on Friday after Republican party bosses decided to pull Trump’s healthcare bill rather than face the ignominy of at least 33 Republican congressmen siding with the opposition Democrats against it. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down about 1.4% and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.15% lower. European markets may be buoyed on Monday by Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party winning a local election in Saarland state on Sunday by its biggest margin in 13 years. Angela Merkel’s CDU gained 5.5 percenta...
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