The Rand has weakened further today. This follows rapid, high-level developments over the weekend. Moody's downgraded SA to full junk status on Friday and kept its outlook negative. Furthermore, on Saturday, the SARB Governor approached the IMF to discuss borrowing. However, some analysts do not expect the ZAR weakness to continue much further because of developments in the Bond Market and the preemptive monetary policy actions already undertaken by the South African Reserve

Congress has just approved a USD2.2 trillion stimulus package to the US economy - the largest in history. It is hoped that this much-needed shot in the arm is the cure for the sick American economy. The strong rally in global equity markets yesterday, suggests the "risk on" phase s back and will more than likely be supported by the recently re-established QE programmes by the major central banks, which have gone into full swing this week, along with leading market investors s

After this week's panic driven trading sessions, Sterling has come under particularly sharp downward pressure. It has touched 35-year low versus the US Dollar is now at its lowest level since 2008 against the Euro. The current bear market has also seen major sell-offs in other asset classes, including bonds and commodities, Asian equity markets are again down around 1- 2%. However, there were some signs in Asian trading of government bond markets stabilising. This stability f