The rand rallied on Tuesday morning against major currencies as UK Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to confirm that Britain will leave the EU’s common market. According to excerpts of May’s speech that were given to the media, the prime minister will set out 12 priorities for the negotiations with the EU after Brexit is triggered in March when she speaks later in the day. Rand Merchant Bank currency strategist John Cairns said markets had absorbed these snippets from May’s upcoming speech "remarkable well". "The sterling even managed to bounce somewhat overnight nevertheless, expect volatility when she actually speaks," said Cairns. The rand started the week on a shaky ground, retreating more than 1% due to uncertainty ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said the rand’s 20c movement on Monday was more about liquidity conditions than anything substantial in the market. "The amount of people that keep asking me in panic abou...
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