ZAR goes from bad to worse -The....>

EMERGING MARKETS: ZAR goes from bad to worse

-The recent woeful performance of the South African currency extended Thursday,

with the ZAR falling against almost all other EM currencies, with markets also

closely watching for a break of 2.6094 in TRY/ZAR, which would mark fresh

multi-month highs (the cross is up close to 8% from last week's lows). Domestic

news remains quiet, but increased focus on the SARB's stubbornness on rates

countered any strength that may have been read into the better-than-expected

manufacturing PMI.

-BRL traded modestly softer following the unexpected 50bps cut from the

Brazilian central bank Wednesday. On a similar topic, a note from SocGen

Thursday forecast a further 14 emerging market central banks to cut rates by the

end of the year, with local conditions (narrow CA deficits, low inflationary

expectations) helping support a shift to looser policy.

-The US jobs report will again set the tone among EMFX, but Colombian central

bank minutes are also due.