US ‘Super Tuesday’ Limits Investor Action Today as Speculators Wait for Voting Results
The US Dollar hasn’t been a particularly safe bet so far today, due to the coming of ‘Super Tuesday’, a key event in the 2016 presidential election. The day is ‘Super;’ because it will include votes from a bulk of the US states, despite further voting sessions still being due before the November election.
The potential for radical businessman Donald Trump seizing a majority on ‘Super Tuesday’ has had a powerful effect on ‘Buck‘ investors, who have shown a real concern that after today’s votes are called, the future of the US economy may be in serious doubt.
With this in mind, it is worth noting that due to his determination, Trump is unlikely to pull out of the race even if he fails to win a single state, while some contrasting forecasts are that even if current Republican runner-up Marco Rubio goes home empty handed today, he may have some guaranteed states in the bag further down the road.
While the dust settles from the voting drama this week, the US Dollar is likely to be moved by tomorrow’s February crude oil inventories result, Thursday’s negatively forecast ISM non-manufacturing/services composite for February and Friday’s unemployment rate and change in non-farm payrolls figures for the same month. In the latter two cases, unemployment is expected to remain at 4.9% while the payrolls result has been forecast to rise to 193k, relative to a prior 151k.
Possibility for South African Presidential Impeachment Raises Hopes for Rand’s Future Today
The value of the South African Rand has leapt up today, mainly due to highly important political proceedings and a better-than-expected PMI result.
This was the Barclays manufacturing PMI for February, which against forecasts of a small increase from 43.5 to 43.78 instead hit a pleasantly surprising high of 47.1. The other notable occurrence that has sent the Rand shooting up against the US Dollar and other competitors has been the news that the South African opposition party Democratic Alliance have attempted to reinstate a staggering 783 charges against President Jacob Zuma. Additionally, the DA are attempting to secure a vote of no confidence against the President, who has repeatedly made headlines lately for his potentially corrupt practices and unwise decisions regarding the nation’s finance ministry.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the Rand will potentially be moved by Thursday’s standard bank PMI for February, which came in just below the growth threshold in a previous printing.
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