Rand trading in a range this morning

The rand is trading in a range this morning. Several issues are set to play a key role on domestic markets today. This includes forex movements mainly due to the rebound in the US dollar's value, pressure on precious metal prices and the performance of global financial markets.

Meanwhile, there has been renewed optimism that the US economy may be more resilient than expected following the release of positive jobs data on Friday. The new optimism helped the greenback post gains against the Japanese yen and Euro. This in turn supported the rand.

US and European markets
US stocks made modest gains on Friday after jobs data that offered fresh evidence the economic slowdown is not as severe as feared, but technology shares faded on a surprise loss from Sun Microsystems. The government's stronger-than-expected April payrolls report helped oil stocks rebound sharply by easing fears about weaker US demand for energy. Adding to the energy rally was higher-than-expected profit from Marathon Oil and Chevron, the second-largest US oil company. The Dow Jones added 48 points to 13 0 58. The Nasdaq Composite slipped four points to 2 477, while the S & P 500 edged up five points to 1 414.

The positive US jobs data also buoyed Europe's major markets. Financial stocks managed to attract most of the support. London's FTSE 100 rallied 128 points, or 2.1% to 6 216. In Paris the CAC 40 jumped 73 points, or 1.5% to 5 070, while Frankfurt's DAX rose 94 points to 7 043.

Asian markets
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region are mixed this morning. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng dipped 61 points to 26 186. In Sydney, the ASX advanced 37 points to 5 738, while markets in Tokyo are closed for a public holiday.

Platinum is trading at $1901 /oz and the spot price for Brent crude is changing hands at $112.61 a barrel.