Rand loses 20c to dollar as global safe-haven trade drives bond yields down
The rand lost more than 20c against the dollar on Tuesday afternoon as the greenback convincingly broke through $1.16 to the euro.Global bond yields were off intraday lows, after earlier falling sharply as concern about escalating political and economical problems in the eurozone drove investors to the safety of capital markets.Italian government bonds remained under pressure due to the country’s political turmoil, while the yield on the benchmark German 10-year bund was down an almost unprecedented 20% at one point.The UK 10-year gilt yield dropped nearly 6%, while the benchmark US 10-year bond yield fell to 2.8713% from 2.9277%, after hitting a seven-year high of 3.12% only a week ago.The rand was at risk of pressure from the political uncertainty in Italy, which was encouraging risk aversion across the markets, FXTM analyst Hussein Sayed said.This was despite the rand benefiting in earlier trade from the steps the Turkish central bank took to stabilise the lira at the beginning o...
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