The rand is taking escalating trade friction between the US and China in its stride, extending last week’s gains on Monday. While the rand is still 8% weaker against the dollar in 2018, analysts have expressed surprise about the resilience of the currency, given the official start of the trade war on Friday. The general rand weakness in 2018 has been due to a host of factors, including the trade conflict and tightening monetary policy in the US and eurozone. Domestic factors such as lower than expected economic growth and the land expropriation debate have contributed to the currency’s overall slide. The rand was the third best performing currency against the US dollar last week, firming 2%. Its performance lagged behind the Argentinian and Mexican currencies. The rand looks set to edge towards R13 to the dollar by the end of the week, but US inflation data on Thursday could prevent further strength, said Rand Merchant Bank’s Mpho Tsebe. US inflation data will be closely scrutinised...
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