By Andre Botha, Senior Dealer, TreasuryONE
Markets turned negative in New York last night with Wall Street closing down, Gold falling 3.1% and EM currencies giving back their gains of the day. The Dow lost 1.84%, the S&P lost 1.60% and the Nasdaq lost 0.95% after being positive in the morning session. Asian stocks are negative this morning while US futures are pointing to further losses. The JSE managed a 2.64% gain as the Financial sector managed a bounce from the lows.
The Dollar is holding steady in fairly narrow ranges against the major currencies and is trading at 1.1023 against the Euro and 1.2386 against the Pound while it has slipped to 107.65 against the Yen this morning. The Rand is in a 17.7500/18.0500 range although it briefly broke below 17.7000 yesterday before closing at 17.8400. South Africa recorded an unexpected R14.15 billion trade surplus for Feb which supported the Rand. This morning we are trading at 17.9150.
US Treasury yields are lower at 0.627% for the 10y bond and 1.306% for the 30y bond. The benchmark R186 South African 10y bond closed at 10.965% yesterday after having touched 12.52% in the wake if the downgrade.
Oil has managed to bounce after Trump had discussions with Russia and the Saudis over the price war. Brent is currently quoted at $25.78. Gold has recovered from last night’s $1 561.99 low and is trading at $1 589.65 this morning. Markets are now looking at US jobless claims data on Thursday and the Non-farm payrolls and unemployment numbers on Friday.