Rand Under Pressure Despite Firmer Commodities, Continued Equity Rally

Spot USD/ZAR has climbed into the European morning and last deals at ZAR17.2833, up ~960 pips on the day, with bulls looking for a clearance of Jan 6 high of ZAR17.4343. Bears keep an eye on Jan 12 low of ZAR16.6950.

• The Eskom crisis continues to steal the limelight in South Africa:
  • Multiple opposition and civil society groups have sued President Ramaphosa, relevant ministries and Eskom itself for their handling of the deepening power crisis, demanding relief measures;
  • Eskom is scrambling to prevent the collapse of a 220m-tall chimney at the Kusile Power Station and thus restore 2,100MW of generation capacity to the grid, reducing load-shedding by at least two stages.
• The aggregate BBG Commodity Index has added ~0.2% so far, with the precious metals index up ~0.5%. Gold trades on a firmer footing.
• The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index extends its winning streak, pushing further into a record-breaking territory today.
• South Africa's leading business cycle indicator stayed little changed at 123.1 in November from 123.0 recorded in the previous month.