THE rand oscillated, coming off a strong previous session, as US PPI boosted the greenback, according to NKC Research.
In contrast to the relatively tame CPI release for July yesterday, producer prices posted another strong gain in July, beating expectations with a 1.0 percent increase at the headline level while core prices rose by the most since January.
At the close of local trade, the rand depreciated by 1.0 percent, ending at R14.78/$, after trading in range of R14.64/$ to R14.80/$. The rand traded sideways overnight. The expected range of the rand against the dollar today is R14.60/$ to R14.90/$.
South African bourse
The JSE All Share (-0.31 percent) ended lower yesterday, as Naspers remains affected by Chinese regulators targeting new sectors in crackdowns. Technology (-0.37 percent) and resources (-0.87 percent) were the biggest losers yesterday. In the overall emerging market sphere, softer lending figures and sliding stock prices due to concerns regarding regulatory crackdowns in the online insurance sector resulted in the MSCI Emerging Market Index (-0.5 percent) trading lower.
Brent crude oil
The price of Brent oil slid yesterday, as the International Energy Agency warned that the spread of the Delta variant would hamstring the recovery in global oil demand. At the close of local trade, benchmark Brent crude futures quoted 0.3 percent softer, at $71.2pb. Crude prices traded on the back foot during Asian trade this morning.
BUSINESS REPORT