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The rand has been on the front foot as the tightly-contested race for the White House leans in Democrat Joe Biden's favour.
The local currency was trading at R15.71/$ just after 16:30 on Friday, having tested below the R15.70/$ mark in overnight trade – and on the back of news that Biden had taken moved ahead of incumbent Donald Trump in the crucial state of Pennsylvania.
"The election result in the US is not official yet, but it looks very likely that Joe Biden will be the next president of the US. President Trump broke his silence and mentioned that he is going to the courts as he feels the election is being 'stolen' from him. This has not deterred the risk on feeling of the market and emerging market currencies rallied hard yesterday," said Andre Botha, senior currency dealer at TreasuryONE, on Friday afternoon.
"This is all on the back of the expectation that there will be excess USD liquidity that is going to do the rounds and needs a home. For now, we think the ZAR has had a very good run and could possibly give back some of the gains in the short term before making a run for better levels again."
Bianca Botes, Executive Director at Peregrine Treasury Solutions, similarly commented earlier that the rand's strength was being driven by the potential of a Biden win. "The Federal Reserve is adding to the momentum, indicating that governments and central banks will have to do more to support the economy," she said.
Meanwhile, as eyes remained fixed on the election, US non-farm payroll numbers were better than expected in October, coming in at 638 000 against a forecost of 580 000. Unemployment, meanwhile, fell from 7.4% to 6.9%.
