South Africa’s rand weakened in a volatile session yesterday, breaking back above the 7.50/$ mark overnight. The euro dropped below 1.50 against the dollar as well as a report that Dubai’s debt is much bigger than anticipated was also cited as one of the reasons for our local units weakness. I believe the main reason for this volatility is we are going into silly season and with most major players out, and speculators are having some fun forcing currencies in a direction. Most moves from now till mid January will probably not make any sense!
The yen hit its highest level in 14 years on the dollar on Friday and jumped against higher-yielding currencies as investors cut risk trades on concerns about debt problems in Dubai, while Japan signalled growing discomfort with the surge. After plummeting on Thursday, the dollar plunged to a new 14-year trough below 85 yen as investors unwound yen-funded carry trades in the likes of the Australian and New Zealand dollars. In a market made thinner by a U.S. holiday on Thursday, Japanese exporters fuelled the drop by buying yen ahead of the month-end, while traders also dumped dollars due to option triggers at 85.00 yen, and sell orders kicked in below that level.