THE rand held Monday’s R11.6104 closing price against dollar at 3.30pm on Tuesday following the release of statistics showing South Africa’s trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in November.
A sharp gain by the yen against the euro and the dollar saw the rand weaken 0.83% to R0.097 against Japan’s currency.
The rand was relatively unchanged at R14.1143 against the euro and R18.0193 against the UK pound.
The South African Revenue Service reported the trade deficit fell to R5.7bn in November from a revised R21.6bn in October. It was more than R1bn smaller than predicted in a poll of economists by Reuters, who had forecast a deficit of about R7bn. The revision to the October trade deficit figure was very small, as it was previously reported at R21.3bn.
A large deficit is bad news for South Africa’s current account, as a growing deficit on the current account puts pressure on the rand.
The rouble, which has depreciated by about 40% against the dollar this year on oil price losses and Western sanctions, rallied in early buying. Traders said the move did not appear to stem from Russian central bank buying as small volumes were moving the market.
