The rand extended gains on Wednesday afternoon, appearing to ignore trade-war jitters as the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s business confidence index improved to its highest level in three months.
“The Sacci confidence indicator definitely came as a positive for the rand after two days of consecutive declines,” Monex Europe analyst Simon Harvey said. “Although it must be noted that the increase in business confidence comes from a multi-decade low in August, but the reading does point towards a period of stability in the SA economy,” Harvey said.
Markets will be watching meeting minutes from the US Federal Reserve later in the day amid expectations of it cutting its interest rate for the third time in 2019. “A crucial supporting factor [for the rand] until the medium-term budget policy statement will be whether global, developed-market central banks can maintain a sense of calm with policy easing,” Mercato Financial Services analyst Nico Du Plessis said.