Rand Loses Ground In Early Trade

USD/ZAR has advanced along all USD/EMEA crosses save for USD/RUB as U.S. equity-index futures trade in the red while Chinese imports released overnight missed expectations, casting doubt on the strength of Beijing's economic recovery.

• Domestically, the energy situation remains a lingering source of concern, with Eskom implementing Stage 6 load-shedding until further notice. Analysts warned that the utility could ramp up power rationing without clearly communicating that it has moved past Stage 6.
• When this is being typed, spot USD/ZAR trades at ZAR18.4301, up ~990 pips on the day. From a technical point of view, bulls continue to target Mar 21 high of ZAR18.6132 and Mar 8 high of ZAR18.7192. Bears look to force a break below the ZAR18.00 figure before taking aim at Mar 31 low of ZAR17.6993.
• Local-currency bonds are on the back foot, weakening across the curve. South Africa's 10-year inflation breakeven rate refreshed multi-month highs at 6.64% and last sits at 6.63%.
• The commodity complex has lost steam after strengthening for the past two days. The BBG Commodity Index operates ~0.4% lower on the session, with the precious metals subindex just shy of neutral levels.
• There is little of note on the local docket until Thursday, when Statistics South Africa will publish manufacturing output and mining production data for the month of March.