Rand goes from best to worst carry-trade in 2017

Johannesburg - The fortunes of the rand have swung so much that it’s gone from being the best carry-trade to the worst this year.

Barring a few days in early January, the rand’s year-to-date carry return against the dollar turned negative for the first time in 2017, and is the only currency among 16 major peers to have handed carry traders a loss on a year-to-date basis through November 13.

Back in late March, it was a different story. The dollar-rand carry trade was up 12%. It began to lose its sparkle once investors suspected President Jacob Zuma would fire his fiscally conservative finance minister Pravin Gordhan, which he did.

The currency’s woes have since mounted, with Zuma lurching from one political crisis to another and the economy faltering. The rand has fallen 5.3% this year to R14.50 per dollar on Tuesday, the weakest level since September 2016.

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