Posts Tagged ‘south african rand’

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.

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

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 ?

Strong Rand ? Cheap Holiday ?

With the current Rand being strong against some of the major currencies like the US Dollar and the Euro. A lot of people including me would have saved a substantial amount of money while traveling overseas.  I think my trip came out about 15% cheaper then expected. I probably would have saved more if I didn’t book and pay for parts of my holiday all ready earlier in 2010. At that time we thought the Rand looked strong and i wanted to take advantage of  it. Would we have known we would have booked later. But anyways that said it works the other way as well. Weak Dollar/Euro?  Expensive Holiday  for Overseas visitors? I know of a few people who currently have postponed their holidays to South Africa as it would turn out to be more expensive for them as budgeted. Although even with the Strong South African Rand I think holidays in Beautiful  South Africa are still affordable for Overseas Visitors

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 ?

South African 20 Rand Banknote

For visitors to south africa who are not familiar with south african bank notes and coins. Attached the South African 20 Rand note.

Exchange Rates Market

In finance, the exchange rates (also known as the foreign-exchange rate, forex rate or FX rate) between two currencies specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. It is the value of a foreign nation’s currency in terms of the home nation’s currency. For example an exchange rate of 7  South African Rand (ZAR, R) to the United States dollar (USD, $) means that ZAR 7 is worth the same as one USD . The foreign exchange market is one of the largest markets in the world. By some estimates, about 3.2 trillion USD worth of currency changes hands every day.