The rand was off to a positive start on Thursday, with investors opting to overlook the trade row between the US and China, which contributed to holding the markets hostage over the past six months. With no new developments on the trade issue over the past 24 hours, investors tiptoed back into risky assets, helping the rand in the process to recover some lost ground. For SA, the effect of fears about a trade war have been felt mostly through a weaker rand, which have raised inflation concerns that could tip the scales in favour of higher interests by the Reserve Bank. The higher rates scenario contrasts sharply with the one at the start of 2018, when economists expected the Bank’s monetary policy committee to cut rates more than once in 2018. "We saw a couple of days ago that there is still some risk appetite out there for risky assets when the rand rallied to R13.25/$," TreasuryOne senior currency dealer Andre Botha said in an e-mailed note to clients. ‘Should the latest trade war ...
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