The JSE was lower at the opening on Tuesday morning, as the rand firmed to its best level in two months against the dollar on increased optimism that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will win the ANC leadership race at the party’s conference in mid-December.The market weakness was only partly rand driven, as Asian markets were also lower despite the Dow closing 0.24% up at a record high 24.290.05 points on Monday. The Dow gained more than 1% at one stage on the Senate’s passing of the tax reform bill in the US, before retreating towards the close.The rand hit a best two-monthly level of R13.4371 to the dollar on Tuesday morning as the euro stabilised at $1.1865.Ramaphosa extended his lead in branch nominations on Monday, despite main rival Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma winning the most branch nominations in KwaZulu-Natal."This has undoubtedly let the rand bulls loose, and we are back to levels last seen before the disastrous medium-term budget policy statement," said TreasuryOne trader And...
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