Amidst all the recent currency fluctuations and market doomsday predictions our team at 1st Contact Forex have put together an infographic showing you exactly how much bang, or more accurately, beer, you can get for your buck.

Last week the Rand started off well, only to weaken midweek before making a comeback by the close of Friday trading. These moves were largely as a result of fluctuations in risk sentiment and emerging markets.

In a week of both political and legal landmarks, the highest court in South Africa ruled that President Jacob Zuma had failed “to uphold, defend and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the land.” Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng ordered Mr. Zuma to repay a sum that will be determined by Treasury in the coming weeks.

Last week started off rather quiet in the South African market with Human Rights Day taking a lot of liquidity out of the local market.

The Rand traded at 16.024 to the USD during the week, its weakest show since 26 February, when the political scandal that has shaken President Zuma’s government started.

The Rand has been extremely volatile in the past few weeks; last week was no exception. The local currency went as high as 15.47 to the USD and as low as 15.06.

The Rand showed a lot of volatility last week. After opening at 21.75 to the Pound on Monday morning, it quickly soared to a day high of 22.44. By the end of the week, the local currency had made a strong recovery and closed at 21.86 to the Pound.

After opening on Monday morning at 21.73 to the Pound, the Rand recovered to 21.20 by Wednesday on the back of the GBP’s steepest decline in more than six years.

The ZAR continued to rally last week and over the last twenty days the currency has strengthened from around 23.00 to the Pound to just over 22.00.

The Rand had a somewhat surprising reaction in the days leading up to last week’s State of the Nation Address.

Last week was a somewhat positive, albeit volatile, week for the Rand. Despite an initial weakening against the major currencies, the Rand had strengthened by Friday.

After an interest rake hike, and amidst a rally in global markets last week, one of the most volatile months on record for the Rand seems to have ended positively.

The Rand remained see-sawed last week as the attention of the world was focused on the World Economic Forum (WEF) discussions at Davos.

Thanks to a law created in 1949, South Africans who have acquired citizenship in another country, without the prior written consent of the Minister of Home Affairs, run the risk of losing their South African citizenship.

The week began with the Rand falling more than 2% against the US dollar, one of the weakest performances in a basket of emerging currencies.

The New Year started off with one of the worst market crashes in decades. The Chinese markets fell drastically and closed prematurely after government intervention. These crashes translated into the ZAR falling even before the South African markets opened.

In the last week of 2015, markets awaited domestic trade data and money supplies numbers. During this time, the Rand fell slightly, dropping to 15.345 to the US Dollar. Since then, the ZAR has continued to slip further against all major currencies.

The Rand continues to remain volatile in the face of South Africa’s political crisis, despite making some gains this past week.

The Rand tested record lows this past week following the axing of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, with GBP-ZAR closing on 24.34 and USD-ZAR ending Friday on 16.05. The currency did recover somewhat after the appointment of Pravin Gordhan on Sunday evening.

It has been a particularly volatile week for the Rand. The first week of December saw the currency strengthen against its major international counterparts. This trend continued until Thursday, when the ECB’s policy announcement caused waves in the market, weakening all currencies against the EUR.

The Rand opened firmly last week after the South African Reserve Bank raised the interest rate by 25 basis points, bringing it up to 6.25%. The decision came as a surprise, as just over half of the economists polled predicted no change in the rate.

The week commences on a soft note after the Rand broke a five day winning streak against the Dollar since last Monday. This development was a clear reflection of investors’ concerns about a possible US Fed rate hike in December and the impact it will have on emerging markets.

Last week was a tough one for the Rand, with rates falling to record lows against the Dollar and Pound. The Rand fell almost 2% against the sterling and just under 1% against the greenback amid global investor sentiment. GBP-ZAR is currently at 21.88 and USD-ZAR currently sitting at 14.38.

The SA positive trade data release last week indicated that SA is not quite as reliant on external funding as many believed.

The Rand started firmly on Monday but lost ground as the week continued, thanks to the continuing slide in commodity prices along with being an EM currency. The student protests have also weighed on investor sentiments in the past two weeks.

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Last week was characterised by the student protests across the nation. The Rand was at a low against the dollar as the student protests over tuition fees put a negative spin on investor sentiment. The Rand fell by nearly 2% against the US dollar mid-week, which tied in with the protests occurring outside of Parliament.

Despite its weak start last week, the Rand ended off on a strong note against most of the major currencies.

The South African Rand closed last week on a positive note, reaching monthly highs against the sterling and greenback. This came after some positive news from the East, led by stronger Asian equity markets along with some reprieve in commodity prices.

Last week began with the Rand a touch firmer against a wobbly US Dollar. This kept it on track for a third consecutive daily gain as investors found renewed appetite for high yielding emerging markets.

The South African Rand fell to historic lows against the Pound last week, hitting 21.45 on Thursday, the worst rate in over 10 years. Following hawkish statements from various Fed officials with regard to raising US interest rates this year, the Rand also reached record lows against the US Dollar.

Last week, all eyes were on the looming US Federal Reserve Bank interest rate decision, with markets unsure of where the dollar was heading.

The Rand started the week softer against the Dollar on Monday, reaching a record low of 14.0175 after another sharp fall in Chinese shares, along with the weak South African Reserve Bank data. The data released by the reserve bank showed only a slight improvement in net foreign exchange reserves during August.

Last week was yet another tough one for the Rand as it continued its fight for survival against the Pound and the Dollar.

The big talking point of the last week was the devaluation of the China’s currency. The Rand dropped to its lowest level (R12.7250) in 14 years to the Dollar on Tuesday and Wednesday. This decline, along with fellow emerging market units, followed China’s decision to devalue its currency to support a stuttering economy and boost exports. The USD strengthened on the back of this devaluation.

Last week we saw the vulnerable Rand under pressure against the Dollar and the Pound. As China is a key importer of local commodities in South Africa, the release of weak manufacturing data out of China put the Rand under pressure on Monday.

At the beginning of last week, the Dollar was under pressure following weak US housing figures, which allowed the Rand to recover some recent losses.

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Last week, the South African Rand took the brunt of a sell-off in commodity currencies triggered by concerns about a slowdown in China’s growth. The Rand dropped more than 1.5% to a low of 12.680 to the Dollar. On Friday, the Rand temporarily hit a 14-year low at its weakest point.

The Rand was fairly soft early last week in response to the volatile situation in Greece and speculation that the Federal Open Market Committee would opt to hike US borrowing costs before the end of this year. 

The GBP-ZAR rate dropped to 19.11 on Friday last week, but it could not keep its footing and closed at 19.32. The rate has since hovered around this point with no real changes expected, especially with all eyes on Greece and the Euro’s movements.

The Rand was relatively unchanged against the Dollar on Friday after a fleeting rally, on the back of the US Federal Reserve’s delayed interest rate hike, which fizzled out, and due to investors awaiting the latest news from negotiations with Greece.

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The spotlight is on Greece this week as it heads for debt default and a possible exit from the Eurozone.

The Rand was relatively unchanged against the Dollar on Friday after a fleeting rally, on the back of the US Federal Reserve’s delayed interest rate hike, which fizzled out, and due to investors awaiting the latest news from negotiations with Greece.

Last week Tuesday, Overberg Asset Management’s weekly overview of the South African market landscape named the country as one of the most threatened emerging markets. South Africa, Brazil and Turkey were deemed the “threatened three” due to displaying the weakest currency fundamentals.

The Rand hit a 13.5 year low against the Dollar on Friday due to strong US jobs data for May. This boost to the US economy has led to an increase in the strength of the Dollar and traders’ confidence.

Last week, as South Africa was heading into winter, the forecast was not looking too hot for the Rand

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After the UK elections, the Pound strengthened against all major currencies.

South Africa to cut public spending now or risk demotion by credit rating agencies

Last week, we saw the Rand catapult to 11.8925 to the US dollar, this is the worst it has been since March 2002

Monday’s manufacturing data is supportive of our lower than consensus interest rate outlook

As history would have it, December has never been a month for constancy

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The Rand performed poorly among the commodity currencies

The SA Reserve Bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged

The market reflects the Rand rising against the Dollar and the Pound

In the week before last, the Rand strengthened against the US Dollar for the third consecutive day on Friday, closing at USD-ZAR 10.93, compared with Thursday’s close of USD-ZAR 10.98. Rand appreciation against the greenback occurred into Dollar but weakness against all of the major crosses and into a mixed to stronger performance from the […]

In a volatile climate, the Rand depreciated further throughout the week, especially against the Pound

Rand performance received mixed reactions last week, especially performing against the US Dollar

Things are looking up for the South African Rand this week. But will the trend last?

The Rand depreciated against the US Dollar yesterday, closing at USD-ZAR 11.21, compared with Wednesday’s close of USD-ZAR 11.13.

The GBP rallied against major currencies as investors took early results as showing Scottish voters had rejected independence from UK. Initial reports suggest that Scotland has voted 55% in favour of staying in the union and 45% backing independence.

The Rand depreciated against the US Dollar on Friday for the fifth consecutive day, closing at USD-ZAR 11.02, compared with Thursday’s close of USD-ZAR 10.97, on the back of a continued risk-off bias in global financial markets.

The World Bank estimates global remittances to have totalled US $550 billion in 2013, 75% of which was money sent to developing countries like South Africa.

Herman Howell takes a look at why South African international money transfers are high.

The Rand weakened against the US Dollar yesterday, closing at USD-ZAR 10.65, compared with Wednesday’s close of USD-ZAR 10.61.

The Rand weakened against the Dollar on Thursday, closing at USD-ZAR 10.77, compared with Wednesday’s close of USD-ZAR 10.70.

The Rand weakened against the Dollar on Thursday, closing at USD-ZAR 10.77, compared with Wednesday’s close of USD-ZAR 10.70.

The last week of July saw the Rand weakening against all major currencies. Global political turmoil, coupled with the strong economic performance from the large economies worldwide put the Rand on the back foot, with institutional investors pulling funds from emerging markets.