Rand keeps steady despite global growth jitters
US treasury yields pulled back from seven-year highs, dragging the dollar with them, which took pressure off the rand
The rand held up reasonably well on Thursday morning despite poor global sentiment. The rand tends to be a good measure of global risk-on/risk-off trade, but the correlation was absent in early trade, with the rand firming while equity market losses deepened. There were no clear, new catalysts in play for the sour mood in global markets, other than continuing trade war concerns. Technology stocks worldwide were under renewed pressure, contributing to the poor sentiment. US treasury yields pulled back from seven-year highs, dragging the dollar along with them, which in turn took pressure off the rand and other emerging-market currencies. South African bonds were also spared in the sell-off, with the yield on the benchmark R186 bond little changed at 9.245% in early trade, from 9.220% at its last settlement. The rand and local bonds have been highly volatile in recent months, making it difficult to discern a trend. "Not a day goes by that we do not speak of trade wars, mulling over th...
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