Rand Rallies Ahead Of Announcement Of ANC Election Outcomes

USD/ZAR has sunk into the London trade, which has been facilitated by broad-based greenback sales, as the BBDXY index has lost ground. Domestically, the imminent announcement of the outcome of ANC leadership race is front and centre.

• ANC delegates have been summoned to a plenary, with the vote, count and verification processes for the elections to the party's top seven positions reportedly completed. The outcomes could be announced any time now, with local media outlets pointing to "jubilant mood" among Ramaphosa's supporters.
• South Africa's 10-year inflation breakeven rate has crept higher to a new one-week high of 6.35% before easing off to 6.33%. Local-currency bond yields sit 9.7-10.7bp higher across the slightly flattened curve.
• The commodity complex is weaker today, with the BCOM index last ~0.4% worse off. Still, the precious metals subindex is ~0.6% stronger, potentially lending some suppor to the Rand.
• Spot USD/ZAR trades at ZAR17.4320, down ~2,500 pips on the day, remains volatile ahead of the announcement of ANC election outcomes. Bears look for a further retreat past Nov 30 low of ZAR16.8980, a key near-term support. Bulls set their sights on the 61.8% retracement of the downleg between Oct 13 - Nov 30, located at ZAR17.9384.