CNBC is running a remarkable article about Citi Bank, remarkable not because the focus is Citi’s botched transfer where they mistakenly tried to put $81 trillion into a client’s account when just $280 was the actual transfer amount, but last year they had 10 instances where more than $1 billion was transferred to client accounts in error!!!?
These are the mid rates at 7:00 today:
Brent Crude = $73.19 per barrel
- Late on Friday afternoon we thought that the week was over, and that tariff headlines over the weekend were going to be our biggest concern.? No such luck as unprecedented scenes from the White House knocked us from R18.44 to the Dollar to R18.71 during the evening session.
- The weekend has given the market two days to calm down but developments on Friday night were both unexpected and bad for the Rand.? Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in Washington, ostensibly to sign a much talked about trade deal with the US while continuing peace talks with Donald Trump, but their press conference took a turn for the worse by ending up in a shouting match between Zelenskiy, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.? Such a public dressing down is rare to say the least, and with Zelenskiy being told to leave the White House with no trade deal signed, and with political tensions more than elevated, that saw the Dollar Index spike while the Rand took a direct hit.? ?
- The market hates uncertainty and Friday night’s drama added uncertainty by the bucket load.? The following is from Reuters: ?The Euro dropped on Friday after a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump went up in flames, dashing hopes any peace deal could be reached soon in the war with Russia. Zelenskiy left the White House early following the meeting, without signing a deal between Ukraine and the US over the joint development of natural resources. "A big driving force of markets now is uncertainty on a lot of different levels, and this is just another part of that," said Jack Mcintyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global in Philadelphia. "It looked like we were moving towards progress on a peace deal or a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and maybe now that gets put on hold, so you have to price in a little bit more uncertainty."
- Fortunately for the Rand the political carousel turns quickly and Zelenskiy has already held talks with leaders from the UK and Europe yesterday so as to draw up their version of a peace plan that will now be presented to the US.? This is still very much a developing story, and we can expect further twists in the tale, but with the market having had two days to digest Friday’s events coupled with positive headlines out of Europe that has seen the Rand claw back some ground this morning with us opening at R18.64.
- There’s plenty for the market to keep tabs on at the moment and political headlines are running side by side with trade updates as we gear up for Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada along with another 10% on China by tomorrow’s deadline.? We got the feintest glimmer of hope over the weekend when US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, said that while the tariffs will go ahead tomorrow, it is still up to Trump whether they will be the full 25%, and this has given the market hope that a deal is still possible.?
- Local market data today sees our February manufacturing PMI at 11:00 followed by new vehicle sales at 1pm.? ?
- Possible USD mid rate trading ranges in the Rand today are R18.50 and R18.80.
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