FX DAILY REPORT – 10 February 2025
- The Rand opened weaker against all the majors this morning.
- On Friday, President Trump officially ordered a halt to all funding to South Africa amid ongoing disputes over the Expropriation Act. Additionally, he announced support for Afrikaans farmers, directing officials to prioritize the resettlement of Afrikaners and their families in the U.S. as refugees. This is likely contributing to the ZAR weakness.
- The USD strengthened on Friday following the release of Non-Farm Payrolls and other key labour market data. While Non-Farm Payrolls came in lower than expected at 143K (versus the anticipated 169K), all other labour indicators exceeded forecasts. Notably, the unemployment rate dropped from 4.1% to 4.0%, and Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) increased from 0.3% to 0.5%, contributing to the dollar’s gains.
Todays Events:
- South African Business Confidence at 13:00 – Previous result was 118.1. A higher-than-previous result can be seen as positive for the ZAR.
- Eurozone ECB President Lagarde Speech at 16:00