Media reporting that the ANC and DA have finally come to an agreement on the GNU
News stations are reporting that President Ramaphosa will be announcing his new cabinet sometime tomorrow after the ANC and DA reportedly finally came to an agreement on the way forward for the GNU. There has been little reaction from markets as yet with the Rand trading largely unchanged at 18.16 this morning. The local currency appears to be taking its cues from international moves ahead of tomorrow’s PCE deflator data with the Dollar still on the front foot.
The Yen earlier hit a 38-year weakest level at 160.80 while the Euro is below the 1.0700 mark and the Pound just keeping above 1.2600. Traders remain wary of any signs of intervention from the BOJ and the Yen has pulled back to 160.47.
Today, we have the final US Q1 GDP release, with analysts expecting the economy to have grown by 1.3%. We also have the weekly jobless claims number as well as US durable goods orders data due today.
Mixed moves on the precious metals front
Gold slipped below the $2,300 mark last night, closing at $2,298 as the strong Dollar weighed on demand. Platinum on the other hand is holding above the $1,000 level while Palladium is weaker at $926. Copper continues to weaken as softer Chinese economic data and the brewing trade war between China and the West raises demand concerns. Brent crude is holding steady at $85.00 in cautious trade ahead of tomorrow’s US inflation data.