Rand Shrugs Off Political Headlines, Remains Slightly Firmer Today

The South African Rand has largely ignored domestic political developments so far. The Mail & Guardian ran a report suggesting that David Mabuza will stay on as Deputy President at least until after Thursday's SONA, in which he will participate in his current capacity, with tensions between ANC factions seemingly brewing under the surface. Separately, Bloomberg reported that the main opposition Democratic Alliance weighs opening the door to a potential coalition with the ANC after the 2024 general election.

• Spot USD/ZAR trades at ZAR17.6443, around 200 pips worse off, with the technical levels flagged earlier still in play.
• The aggregate BBG Commodity Index operates ~0.6% higher on the session, with the precious metals subindex erasing its earlier uptick.
• Local-currency bond yields have crept higher and last sit near best levels of the session, with 10-year breakeven inflation rate now above the 6% figure.
• The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index trades virtually flat on the day, struggling to pick up momentum after printing record highs last month.