The rand was relatively stable in afternoon trade on Thursday amid the news of a sale of the V&A Waterfront, while the Competition Commission provided its stamp of approval for the Wal-Mart/Massmart (MSM) merger.
|||The rand was relatively stable in afternoon trade on Thursday amid the news of a sale of the V&A Waterfront, while the Competition Commission provided its stamp of approval for the Wal-Mart/Massmart (MSM) merger.
While the euro also lost ground against the dollar, a local dealer noted that the rand, by and large, shrugged off this development.
SA's largest listed property fund, Growthpoint Properties (GRT), and Public Investment Corporation (PIC) announced on Monday that they had entered into an agreement to buy in equal proportions 100% of Lexshell 44 General Trading for 9.717 billion rand.
The V&A Waterfront is a mixed-use property development located around the historic Victoria and Alfred basins that formed Cape Town's original harbour.
Meanwhile, the Competition Commission recommended the unconditional approval of the Wal-Mart/Massmart (MSM) merger. Wal-Mart is a US-based company that retails a wide range of products such as grocery, electronic, furniture and clothing in 15 countries.
Massmart is a wholesaler and a retailer of grocery products, liquor and general merchandise and is listed on the JSE.
At 16:04 local time, the rand was bid at 7.2711 versus the dollar from its previous close of 7.2660. It reached an intraday worst level of 7.3221 against the greenback. It was bid at 9.8025 to the euro from 9.8121 before and at 11.6458 against sterling from 11.6020 at its previous close.
The euro was bid at US$1.3462 from US$1.3511 before.
A local dealer said: “You would no doubt have seen the Wal-Mart/Massmart merger approval by the Competition Commission, which would have boosted inflows, while the approval of Massmart's deal with Wal-Mart also served to calm the rand, which had been
pretty messy of late.”
“The euro has weakened against the dollar, and we had expected the rand to follow suit, but with the dollar as firm against the euro as it is, the rand has been pretty steady.”
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires has reported that the euro fell sharply across the board in London trading on Monday, sinking to a fresh three-week low against the dollar as worries about German bank WestLB added to renewed euro-area sovereign concerns.
The euro climbed steadily in Asia on Monday, buoyed by the weekend's events in Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak finally stood down as president, and Chinese trade data, which showed a surge in imports.
However, shortly after European trade got underway, the single currency plunged about 0.4% against the greenback to trade at $1.3453, after headlines suggested that WestLB's future was in doubt. Sources close to the situation told Dow Jones Newswires on Sunday that the troubled lender could be preparing to outline a government-supported restructuring plan before the European Commission's deadline on Tuesday, setting the groundwork for breaking up the bank.
The currency was also facing pressure ahead of the meeting of euro-group finance ministers on Monday afternoon, but while the meeting will be watched with interest, no new developments are expected before the meeting of euro-zone leaders at the end of March. - I-Net Bridge
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/rand-steady-amid-v-a-deal-1.1026235
Paul Myners Fifa Christmas and New Year Buenos Aires Radio Wales
No comments:
Post a Comment