Rand Advances Ahead Of Long Weekend

Spot USD/ZAR trades at 18.8428 (1,110 pips lower on the day), unwinding the entirety of yesterday's gains. Technically, a move through Aug 24 low of 18.3805 is needed to open up scope for a deeper sell-off. Bulls look for gains past 19.3301, the 76.4% retracement of the Jun 1 - Jul 27 downleg.

• The SARB maintained interest rates at unchanged levels yesterday, but struck hawkish tones in its rhetoric, signalling a sense of concern with upside risks to the inflation outlook. The materialisation of these risks could prompt the central bank to react.
• Sources told Bloomberg that China is cosidering easing the rules on foreign ownership in domestic publicly traded firms to lure global funds to its stock market. This suggests ongoing efforts to stimulate the flagging economy.
• SAGB yields are slightly higher across the curve, despite trimming some initial gains. South Africa's 10-year breakeven inflation rate sits at 7.05%, breaking above the 7.00% mark for the first time since early June.
• The aggregate BBG Commodity Index has added ~0.5% this morning, while the precious metals subindex operates ~0.6% higher on the day.
• South Africa observes a public holiday on Monday.