LOCKDOWN LEVEL 1 [DAY 44]
TOTAL DAYS 225 – 07 HOURS 40 MINUTES
By the close of trade on Thursday, the South African rand strengthened against the US dollar.
- The greenback lost ground, as exit polls indicated a win for Democrat challenger, Joe Biden and a divided Congress, which leads to prospects of lower stimulus spending. Legal challenges being files in many states. A state judge in Pennsylvania ordered election officials Thursday to segregate some mail-in ballots with voter identification issues after the Trump campaign challenged an extended deadline allowing voters to correct them through November 12, calling into question whether those votes would count as Pennsylvania’s presidential race continues to narrow. • The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Bokova’s decision to extend a deadline for voters whose mail-in ballots lacked proof of identification to provide it, changing the deadline. The results of this election will only be known in many days or perhaps weeks. George Bush jnr was declared a winner after litigation against Al Gore in 2000 after a whopping 37 days of court drama.
- Wall Street’s post-election wave swept stocks solidly higher again Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 toward its biggest weekly gain since April. Markets are banking on Tuesday’s election leading to split control of Congress, which could mean low tax rates, lighter regulation on businesses and other policies that investors like remain the status quo. It’s still unclear who will run the White House next year, though Democrat Joe Biden is pushing closer toward the needed mark as vote counting continues in a number of key states.
- The Federal Reserve (Fed) left monetary policy unchanged and mentioned in its policy statement that US economic activity continued to recover but remained well below pre-pandemic levels. Further, the Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, stated that more fiscal action was needed to prop up the economy.
- On the data front, the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped for the week ended 30 October.
- The yield on benchmark government bonds fell yesterday. The yield on 2026 bond dipped to 6.78%. Further, the yield on 2023 bond declined to 4.19%, while that for the longer-dated 2030 issue dropped to 8.97%.
In early trade on Friday, the US dollar is trading higher against the South African rand at R15.7222, while the euro is trading higher at R18.6033. The British pound has gained against the South African rand to trade at R20.6522.
By the close of trade on Thursday, the euro declined against most of the major currencies.
- On the data front, the eurozone’s retail sales declined more-than-expected on a monthly basis in September.
- In the UK, the BoE kept the benchmark interest rate steady and increased its already huge bond-buying stimulus by a larger-than-expected GBP150.00bn, as it braced for more economic damage from new coronavirus lockdowns and damage from Brexit. The pound rallied on Thursday, heading for its biggest weekly gain since late September, despite the implementation of a lockdown in much of UK, as investors took solace in the Bank of England’s plans to pump more cash into the economy. The BoE kept interest rates unchanged, but said it would expand its bond-buying by slightly more than expected as it struggles to ward off more economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, with weeks to go until the United Kingdom fully leaves the European Union.
- The BoE Governor, Andrew Bailey, stated that the bank is ready to pump more stimulus into Britain’s economy if the outlook for inflation weakens.
In early trade on Friday, the euro has marginally slipped against the US dollar to trade at $1.1826, while it has gained 0.1% against the British pound to trade at GBP0.9007.
TECHNICAL
USD to ZAR Stats
| Stats Data | Last 30 days | Last 90 days |
| High | 16.7173 | 17.7054 |
| Low | 15.7186 | 15.7186 |
| Average | 16.3555 | 16.7227 |
| Volatility | 0.5% | 0.88% |
CNY to ZAR Stats
| Stats Data | Last 30 days | Last 90 days |
| High | 2.47442 | 2.54178 |
| Low | 2.37430 | 2.37430 |
| Average | 2.43922 | 2.45692 |
| Volatility | 0.49% | 0.83% |
MUR to ZAR Stats
| Stats Data | Last 30 days | Last 90 days |
| High | 0.42091 | 0.44568 |
| Low | 0.39316 | 0.39316 |
| Average | 0.40942 | 0.41957 |
| Volatility | 0.8% | 1.05% |
AUD to ZAR Stats
| Stats Data | Last 30 days | Last 90 days |
| High | 11.9331 | 12.6675 |
| Low | 11.3918 | 11.3918 |
| Average | 11.6487 | 12.0138 |
| Volatility | 0.41% | 0.72% |
EUR to ZAR Stats
| Stats Data | Last 30 days | Last 90 days |
| High | 19.6205 | 20.8201 |
| Low | 18.5744 | 18.5744 |
| Average | 19.2407 | 19.7154 |
| Volatility | 0.45% | 0.8% |
GBP to ZAR Stats
| Stats Data | Last 30 days | Last 90 days |
| High | 21.5665 | 23.1524 |
| Low | 20.5754 | 20.5754 |
| Average | 21.2452 | 21.7697 |
| Volatility | 0.61% | 0.78% |
COVID NEWS:
https://mediahack.co.za/datastories/coronavirus/dashboard/
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