Rand goes bump in the night

The rand swung to the upside of its narrow range overnight, opening this morning at 11.02 against the US dollar. A likely cause could be that flows are catching up as Greenback steps back into action after yesterday's US bank holiday. Oil prices are also big news with the Brent Crude futures dropping to a low of $72.45 a barrel… awesome! The lower oil price is sure to help our Trade Balance since we're a massive oil importer, although the effect this afternoon remains to be seen. Furthermore, cheap oil mitigates the risk of rising inflation which could also be a long term bonus for the local economy. Most importantly, it's Friday!   

Commentary by Danie Strijdom