Rand Oscillates Between Gains & Losses

Spot USD/ZAR has held a narrow range so far, looking through local headlines. The rate last changes hands at ZAR18.3795, down 225 pips on the session. Bears look for losses through the ZAR18.00 figure and towards Mar 31 low of ZAR17.6993. On the flip side, bulls see Mar 21 high of ZAR18.6132 and Mar 8 high of ZAR18.7192 as their key initial targets.

• South Africa's Absa Manufacturing PMI recovered to 49.8 in April from 48.1 prior, beating the 48.0 median estimate in a Bloomberg poll (forecast range was 47.0 to 48.5). Headline index failed to return above the breakeven 50.0 level as "business activity and new sales orders worsened," despite "a significant improvement in the inventories index." Survey results suggested that the sector continues to suffer from intense load-shedding and subdued demand.
• Local-currency bond yields have edged higher today, with 10-year breakeven inflation rate sitting at 6.61%.
• The composite BBG Commodity Index is little changed on the day, with the precious metals subindex down ~0.3%.