Electron Native

South Africa’s rand has weakened early on Monday. The rainbow nations currency slumped to its weakest in almost a week. A fact blamed on the trade tensions between China and the United States. At 0615 GMT the rand was 0.2 percent weaker and sold at 15.3300 per U.S. dollar compared to a close at 15.3000 per U.S. dollar on Friday in New York. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday heaped an additional 5 percent duty on some 550 billion U.S. dollars in targeted Chinese goods, just hours after China unveiled tariffs on 75 billion U.S. dollars worth of American goods. The rand has suffered in August, sliding around 12 percent as local pressures linked to the growing chance of a credit downgrade to junk by Moody’s, and uncertainty offshore, have stalled any long bets on the currency. Africa’s most industrialised economy relies on exports to China and the United States for a bulk of its revenue, and the deepening spat between the two super powers risks denting the country’s alr...

As the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Europe battles with BREXIT, the dollar maintain three-month highs versus the euro on Thursday. This is supported by sustained strength in core U.S. inflation and weaker-than-expected data out of Europe. While headline United States (U.S.) inflation is at its weakest pace year on year for the past two years this January, traders focussed on the core price gauge, which stayed up for the third straight month, giving the dollar some impetus. The euro is trading below the psychologically important 1.13 dollar level at 1.1283 dollar. Earlier in the session, it hit an intra-day low of 1.1245 dollar. The greenback was hit earlier this year by the Federal Reserve’s shift to a cautious policy stance. However, the latest data suggests the central bank will need to stay vigilant on pricing pressures even as it adjusts to heightened growth risks. The Australian dollar, which is often considered a barometer for global risk appetite, is up 0.3 per ...