Rand gains 20c against the dollar as Brexit jitters subside

The rand continued to gather strength at midday on Wednesday as fears related to Britons exiting the EU subsided with risk-on trade seen across global markets.

However‚ TreasuryOne chief currency dealer Wichard Cilliers said the global economy was still “very on edge”‚ with economic uncertainty remaining high.

Investors were simply looking for clear-cut clarity and some affirmation of the future financial prospects of UK-based or influenced assets‚ he said.

At 11.29am‚ the rand was at R14.9998 to the dollar from R15.1755 at the previous close. It touched a firmest level of R14.9704/$ in earlier trade.

It was at R16.5902 against the euro from R16.7904 previously‚ and at R20.0878 against the pound from R20.2514 previously.

The euro was at $1.1059‚ from $1.1065 at the previous close.

Cilliers said Wednesday would be rather quiet regarding headlines‚ but one can look out for US bank stress test information later in the day‚ which was not expected to caused too much market volatility.