The number of the day is a currency exchange. Because the Rand weakened to a five-month low today of R12.88 to the dollar. It has since strengthened but this raises questions around where the Rand is going. Remember it was trading at R11.60 in March when it looked like all the local political changes were really being welcomed. But since the Rand has weakened. There are millions of currency transactions daily so we can only speculate about what is actually influencing the traders and moving the Rand. But it does seem that local factors are at play. The problem is a stronger dollar. Sometimes the dollar strengthens when investors are worried. There have also been very attractive rising interest rates in the US. Is that And then sometimes the Dollar benefits on good news like the hopes today of easing trade tensions between the US and China. It raises the question was the Rand strengthening over December, Jan and Feb, not due to Ramaphoria but was it simply benefiting from a weaker dollar. The truth is probably that both local and global factors play a role - but right now the focus is on the dollar. This means higher fuel prices, inflation and, later this week, we'll see what it means for South African interest rates.

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