south african currency

South African Rands breaks through R8.50 Barrier

The rand reached 8.50 against the dollar in afternoon trading on Wednesday the 23rd of september 2011. As a result it hit its worst level in 2011 on growing concerns of a recession in europe.

Rand Volatility and Trading

The South African  Rand, is currently one of the most traded and volatile emerging market currencies. It  has traded in a range of R6.59/$ to R8.26/$ in 2011, its volatility increasing in the past two months due to global financial turmoil and the European crisis caused by poor performing countries in the euro-zone like Greece.

Rand Takes a Beating

2011/09/22, The rand took a beating against all major currencies, panic buying of dollars by importers and a general negative sentiment about the eurozone is hurting the rand badly. South Africans will have a brace themselves for a higher inflation outlook, higher petrol prices and more expensive imported electronic gadgets

South African Rand Under Pressure

The rand being fairly strong the last few months is under pressure and has hit a 14-month low against the dollar on Tuesday the 20th September 2011 , with many factors pointing to more losses for the Rand, already the worst performing Currency among emerging market currencies.

The rand has lost close to 5% to the dollar so far this year, but it is still up about 20% since the beginning of 2009. The strong South African Rand has managed to keep inflation low for the last few years, but with the currently weakening of the South African Rand the outlook for inflation increase is looming

Walmart Deal boosts South African Rand

The rand was showing stronger against the dollar in late  trade on Tuesday after the Competition Tribunal said it had approved the merger between retail giant Walmart and Massmart Holdings with the conditions as proposed by walmart and massmart (makro,dion wired,builders warehouse and game)

The rand/dollar has broken the R6.82/$ level, which is excellent  for our currency

The Walmart deal will bring a lot of positives to South Africa, for the economy and consumers alike

Rand/Dollar breaches R7,00 on 2011/05/13

The rand fell more than 1.6% against the dollar during trade on Friday, breaching R7.00/US Dollar for since  nearly 2 months on troubles concerning the eurozone debt which have investors think twice about risky assets.

Is this the beginning of the end to a strong Rand, certain analyst certainly think that the Rand is not going to hold up to its strength of the last few months

Volatility of the Rand

The South African Rand (ZAR)has been very volatile over the past few months and certainly again over the past few days. What causes the volatility of the South African Rand ?

• Overseas Jitters and Happenings ?
• Uncertainty ?
• Speculation ?

Today the rand lost some ground again after it gained today. Reason was that a press conference to be held by Zuma & Gordhan. The currency markets didn’t know why so the rand lost ground. I guess todays drop could have been caused by uncertainty

See more in the article below

http://www.fin24.com/Markets/Currencies/Rand-rattled-by-Zuma-Gordhan-briefing-20110325

What is your opinion of the volatile South African Rand (ZAR) and what do you thinh causes it ?

Currency Nick Names

Currencies are sometimes known or refered  by nick names, here follow some of the most common nick names for currencies

US Dollar USD = Buck / Greenback
Euro EUR = Fiber
British Pound GBP = Cable / Sterling
Canadian Dollar CAD = Loonie
Swiss Franc CHF = Swissy
Japanese Yen JPY = Yen
Australian Dollar AUD = Aussie

Some info about the South African Rand (ZAR)

The South African Rand gets its name from the Witwatersrand, (White-waters-ridge) the ridge that Johannesburg is built on.

In some parts of South Africa money is referred to as “Tom.” This is a creation of Cockney rhyming slang, where the English word “jewelry” was rhymed with “tomfoolery,” and foolery was then chopped off.

South Africa is populated by many different ethnic groups with many different languages resulting in a wealth of slang terms. Coloureds may refer to money as “Kroon” which also means “virginity.” South African Indians call 100 Rands a “Clip,” and may refer to money as “Pano.”

You have heard of or know of others ?

Dollar Weakness

The current strength of the South African Rand is mainly caused by a weak US Dollar.  Many Analysts say the dollar may find some short-term improvements as investors and Forex hedging cover short positions in the currency, but many insist the trend for dollar weakness (the US dollar becoming weaker) is there amongst ongoing speculation the Federal Reserve could ease US monetary policy further.

The US actually benefits from a weaker US Dollar as it will improve their export competitiveness. (They will be able to export goods at a competing rate)

Rand below the 7 Rand to the US Dollar

For the first time since 2008 the South African Rand rand has strengthened to below the important magical  level of 7 to the dollar, to 6.98 at 11:34am on 2010/09/22.

Rand strength is basically being driven by the weakness of the dollar.

Is the time right to buy dollars now or can the South African Rand improve more against the weakening US Dollar ?