South Africa's rand came under pressure on Wednesday, revisiting the sell-off triggered by political turmoil and a ratings downgrade, while currencies elsewhere broadly strengthened and emerging stocks rose to a one-week high. Inan Demir, senior emerging market economist at Nomura, said there was room for further weakness in South African assets, with Zuma's position not as weak as had been perceived. The broader economic backdrop remained relatively benign, and MSCI's benchmark emerging stocks index rose 0.4 percent to one-week highs, led by a strong performance in Asia that was echoed in emerging Europe. Chinese mainland stocks rose 1.5 percent, boosted by government plans to build a new economic zone. In Europe, Russian dollar-denominated stocks were amongst the outperformers, up 1.2 percent to 1-1/2 month highs, whilst Budapest shares gained 0.5 percent.

Source: dna April 05, 2017 09:22 UTC