The rand staged a comeback on Friday morning as calm descended on global markets after a volatile week that was dominated by politics. The local currency started off the week on a high note before bowing to the pressure of global risk aversion as political ructions in the US and Brazil gripped investors’ imaginations. The rand slid nearly 3% to the dollar on Thursday as a bribery scandal involving Brazilian President Michel Temer shook already weak sentiment towards emerging markets. "The dust has settled marginally after the chaos of yesterday’s complete shutdown of risk appetite," TreasuryOne trader Phillip Pearce said in a note on Friday. Asian markets steadied in early trade, following Wall Street, which stabilised after deep losses on Wednesday, troubled by concern about President Donald Trump’s promised fiscal stimulus potentially going off track. At 9.11am on Friday, the rand was at R13.2978 to the dollar from Thursday’s R13.4244, at R14.8022 to the euro from R14.9179 and at ...
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