Rand holds firm as US fires a shot in the trade battle with China
The rand is poised for its best weekly close to the dollar in just more than a month, helped in part by a lower dollar
The rand was a bit shaky on Friday morning but was holding up reasonably well in the context of the trade row between the US and China, which threatens to hurt global economy.The US fired the first salvo by officially imposing tariffs on Chinese goods worth $34bn, setting the scene for a possible trade war. But global markets showed little sign of stress, with Asian equity markets actually turning positive after a shaky start to the day.Though slightly weaker in early trade, the rand was poised for its best weekly close to the dollar in just more than a month, helped in part by a lower dollar."The stars need to align a little for the rand to post significant gains, starting with the [US] nonfarm payroll number this afternoon," said Andre Botha, a trader at TreasuryOne."With the current mixed bag out of the US, the possibility exists that the number could disappoint and the dollar could continue its slide into the afternoon."Markets will be interested in the wage growth component of ...
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