Rand Benefits From Precious Metals Strength

Broader greenback weakness is helping USD/ZAR lose some altitude, with the pair narrowing in on yesterday's lows (ZAR18.2430). Meanwhile, decent gains for precious metals have lent support to the South African Rand, which tops the EMEA pile as we type, despite an escalation in Eskom's load-shedding.

• Spot USD/ZAR last trades at ZAR18.2500, down ~1,690 pips on the session. Bears look for losses towards ZAR17.6993, which limited losses on Mar 31. On the flip side, bulls keep an eye on Apr 10 high of ZAR18.5386 and Mar 21 high of ZAR18.6132.
• Precious metals lead gains in the commodity space, with the aggregate BBG Commodity Index up ~0.2% on the day, as the precious metals subindex sits ~0.9% higher. The FTSE/JSE Precious Metals and Mining Index has added ~1.1%.
• Local-currency bonds have edged higher, with the yield curve bull steepening at the margin. South Africa's 10-year breakeven inflation rate sits at 6.32%.
• South Africa's mining output data will be published later in the day.