Rand Struggles To Recover, CPI & SARB Decision Eyed Next Week

Spot USD/ZAR consolidates yesterday's gains and last deals at 18.3975, up ~240 pips on the session. From a technical perspective, Nov 10 high of 18.8057 provides the initial bullish target. Bears look for a pullback towards the 18.00 mark and the 76.4% retracement of the Jul 27 - Oct 6 bull phase at 17.9434.

• President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said that South Africa has completed an implementation plan that will help the country secure access to $8.8bn from the Just Energy Transition Partnership pact.
• Continued talk of growing political momentum within South Africa behind the proposal to cut diplomatic ties with Israel raises the risk of renewed complications in Pretoria's relations with the US.
• SAGBs have firmed across the curve, with 10-year breakeven inflation rate easing to a two-and-a-half-month low of 6.52%. The National Treasury holds a weekly auction of inflation-linked bonds today.
• The BBG Commodity Index has stabilised after a 1.5% drop yesterday. The precious metals subindex has added just 0.1% in the wake of yesterday's 1.3% rally.
• The focus in South Africa turns to next week's CPI data (Wednesday) and SARB rate decision (Thursday).