BLBG:Rand Leads Emerging Rally on Greece Austerity Vote, Higher Commodities
The rand strengthened for the first time in three days as commodity prices gained and the Greek parliament approved austerity measures to secure an international bailout.
South Africa’s currency rallied 1 percent to 7.6754 per dollar as of 8:45 a.m. in Johannesburg, making it the best- performing emerging-market currency today. Against the euro, it gained 0.6 percent to 10.1641.
Passage of Greece’s austerity bill will help the country prevent a default and allow it to remain part of the euro area, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told parliament. The euro advanced 0.4 percent versus the dollar.
“With the crisis in Greece simmering down, the euro has rallied strongly this morning, pulling the rand along with it,” Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK) analysts Nomvuyo Guma and Tebogo Mosepele said in an e-mailed note today. “The positive sentiment all round could see the rand strengthen further into the week.”
Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of commodities increased 0.8 percent to 678.77. Commodities account for about 60 percent of South Africa’s exports, according to government data,
South Africa’s 13.5 percent bonds due 2015 gained for the first time in seven days, driving the yield down four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 6.58 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jana Marais in Johannesburg at jmarais@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net
