S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico Market
Commerzbank’s Volkmar Baur writes that despite South Africa’s reasonable recent performance under pressure from the Iran conflict, the central bank’s July decision to leave its key rate unchanged was surprising. With reform momentum slowing and the policy anchor weakened, he expects the South African Rand to suffer from this stance for an extended period.
Policy surprise undermines Rand support
“Although the South African economy is grappling with the effects of the Iran conflict, it has performed reasonably well in recent months.”
“While the government’s reform momentum has slowed somewhat, the central bank had served as a reliable anchor.”
“This made its decision in July to leave the key interest rate unchanged all the more surprising.”
“The ZAR is likely to suffer from this for some time to come.”
