Rand steady this morning

The rand is steady this morning. A number of issues, including soaring oil prices, the uptick in precious metal prices and forex movement will come under the spotlight on local financial markets today.

On the capital market, the yield on the R153 government bond ended yesterday at 10.23%.

US and European markets
US stocks fell yesterday on concerns that Bank of America may walk away from buying troubled lender Countrywide Financial, while record oil prices above $120 a barrel increased worry about consumer spending. Microsoft's decision to abandon its $50 billion offer to buy Yahoo added to gloom, causing the market to break a two-day winning streak. The Dow Jones gave up 89 points to 12 970. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 13 points to 2 464, while the S & P 500 dipped six points to 1 407.

Tech and telecoms stocks weighed on Europe's major market yesterday. In Paris the CAC 40 slipped six points to 5 063. Frankfurt's DAX added nine points to 7 052, while London markets were closed for a public holiday.

Asian markets
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region are softer this morning. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng slipped five points to 26 179. Sydney's ASX tripped 21 points to 5 710, while markets in Tokyo are closed for a holiday.

Platinum is trading at $1925 /oz and the spot price for Brent crude has shot up to $116.31 a barrel.


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