Rand firms in range-bound trade as Parliament awaits speaker’s decision
The rand was firmer to the dollar in subdued late-afternoon trade on Friday on a slightly weaker dollar and mixed commodity prices. Analysts expect the rand to trade steadily firmer, but to remain range bound due to a lack of local or international economic data releases. The rand has been trending firmer after the Constitutional Court ruling on Thursday that speaker Baleka Mbete does have the authority to decide on a secret ballot in Parliament for the motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. This was despite Zuma indicating in Parliament that an open vote would take place and, by implication, bound the speaker to his wishes as she is a top official within the ANC hierarchy. A secret ballot is seen as more supportive of success in the vote than with an open vote as more ANC MPs might be willing to vote against Zuma. Analysts at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking said the rand would remain range bound until the ruling. "But even as the market awaits the speaker’s decis...
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