The rand had climbed above R16 to the euro and flirted with R14 to the dollar on Tuesday afternoon, in a global sell-off of risk assets prompted by the US-China trade conflict. A combination of announcements last week by the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank of tighter monetary policy, and the imposition of additional tariffs by the US on China, have led to a resurgent dollar, which was at a six-month high to the euro on Tuesday. Global liquidity was drying up as a result, leading to an unwinding of the so-called carry trade, said Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking analysts. Carry trade refers to the practice of borrowing money in a low interest-rate environment in order to seek higher yields elsewhere. Given the current trend of portfolio outflows, the publication on Thursday of current-account data is likely to be more closely watched than usual. On Monday, Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese imported goods worth up to $200bn. This is over and...
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