The rand was steady at levels below R14/$ following former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s resignation late on Tuesday.
Mugabe tendered his resignation to the speaker of parliament minutes before MPs were due to vote on his impeachment.
The rand immediately firmed below R14 on the news‚ but stalled at R13.9614 as the market awaited further developments.
The rand’s next target was R13.85/$‚ but trading was expected to be cautious‚ Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking analysts said. “The firmer bias was partly attributed to the changes in the political landscape by our northern neighbours‚” the analysts said.
At 9.02am the rand was at R13.9861 to the dollar from R13.9706‚ at R16.4318 to the euro from R16.3985 and R18.5371 to the pound from R18.4954.
The euro was at $1.1749 from $1.1737.
The euro fluctuated between losses and gains against the dollar and pound as investors remained uncertain about the chance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel forming a government‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The dollar was also under pressure following comments by US Federal Reserve chairperson Janet Yellen‚ in which she appeared to dampen the prospect of higher US inflation‚ which could lead to more interest-rate increases and a firmer dollar.
She said the Fed was monitoring inflation closely‚ given officials’ uncertainty over whether the factors keeping it below the 2% target would prove endemic. “We expect [inflation] to move back up over the next year or two‚ but I would say I’m very uncertain about this‚” Yellen said.
by Maarten Mittner – BusinessLIVE
