South Africa a surprise safe haven in emerging market maelstrom Reuters 7 hrs ago
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - The rand has emerged as an unlikely winner among emerging market currencies since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, despite South Africa s high levels of debt and unemployment.
U.S. sanctions have rumbled Russian bond markets, Turkish assets have been hit by monetary policy concerns and other big developing countries such as India and Brazil have taken a hard hit from the coronavirus crisis. The rand has been trading very, very well, like a safe haven almost, within the high-yield part of the index, James Lord, global head of FXEM strategy at Morgan Stanley, said.
Turkey Bulls Regroup Around Dollar-Debt as Default Risk Ebbs
Bloomberg 2 hrs ago
(Bloomberg)
By certain measures, Turkey looks a lot like Latin America’s worst serial defaulters. But some investors including Fidelity International Ltd. and Vanguard Asset Management Ltd. are finding plenty to like.
Since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired his market-friendly central bank governor last month, the cost of insuring Turkish sovereign debt has risen to the highest in emerging markets after Argentina. The lira nosedived and a gauge of one-year default probability jumped to a record on concern about central bank reserves, foreign borrowing needs, and a surge in coronavirus cases that imperils tourist revenue.
Fidelity, Vanguard Buy Turkish Debt as New Central Banker Tested msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
6 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - For Cleanne Brito Machado, like millions of people in developing countries around the world, shopping for staple foods such as rice, beans, oil or potatoes now means making hard choices.
FILE PHOTO: Seref Geyik, a 53-year old seller, waits for customers at his stall at a local market in Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
“The shopping cart is getting much smaller and we’re paying much more,” said the 41-year old, who works as a maid in Brazil’s capital Brasilia. “We’ve had to give up on little trips, visiting family at the weekend, and we haven’t been able to save any money for emergencies or to have in the bank.”
By Reuters Staff
(Updates throughout)
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 7 (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand slumped more than 2% against the dollar on Thursday, taking losses since last week to almost 5%, as investor sentiment soured badly on rising COVID-19 infections, a worrying public debt trajectory and the stronger dollar.
Citi said on Wednesday that it had scrapped a trade idea put in place just two days earlier that the rand would strengthen to around 14.53 versus the dollar, making a loss of 3.5% in the process.
By 1655 GMT the rand was trading at 15.4150 against the U.S. currency, down roughly 2.2% on the day.
Warren Venketas, an analyst at IG in Johannesburg, said a sharp spike in coronavirus infections overnight was a factor leading the rand to underperform emerging market peers. The rouble was down roughly 1.5% and the Turkish lira down 0.9%.