Emerging Markets under pressure
In the last hour of trading, we have seen the Rand and other EM's under pressure. And it seems that markets in the US are turning markets more "risk-averse". We have seen the S&P 500 and Dow Jones down by more than 2% in early morning trade. The Rand has jumped from seemingly being very comfortable below the R18.00 level, but it has jumped to R18.1000. The key is whether the R18.2000 level that the Rand reached at the start of the week will hold again or will it be broken.
EUR and GBP look to have stabilised
With the wild ride that the GBP had over the past few days, we saw the Pound find its feet again and trade at almost 1.10 against the US dollar. The Euro has similarly gained against the US dollar and is currently trading at 0.9725 against the Dollar. While the above movements would usually be Rand positive the current "risk-averse" sentiment in the market looks to have constrained any meaningful Rand retracement in the short term at least.
