ZAR has worst week in ten as.......>

EMERGING MARKETS: ZAR has worst week in ten as rating comes under scrutiny

-It seems the South African government's difficulties with troubled utility

Eskom are far from over. ZAR suffered another day of protracted weakness after

Fitch cut the outlook on the South African sovereign to negative due to the

country's Eskom bailout plans, criticising the widening budget deficit and

increased dependence on state support. This boosted USD/ZAR back above the

14.1921 200-dma, turning focus to the 14.50 level last traded in late June.

-USD/RUB hit the best levels since Jul10 as the Russian central bank cut rates

by 25bps. The move was as expected, but the bank shifted to an easing bias,

suggesting further rate cuts could come by the year's end.

-BRL outperformed neighbouring LatAm markets on little news, but USD/BRL

respected recent ranges ahead of the BCB rate decision next week. USD/BRL

remains contained between the weekly high of 3.8061 and recent lows at 3.7185.

-Central banks remain in focus next week, with a rate decision from Brazil and

minutes from Colombia. The Turkish central bank's inflation report is also due.

On the data side, highlights include PMI data for China, India and Russia.