By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
THE Kwacha is anticipated to trade firm but could lose some ground as market players close off the week before the long weekend.
This is after the local unit held steady against the dollar, putting a pause to the losses made earlier in the week with some activity recorded on the interbank, says Absa Bank Zambja daily market report.
According to Absa, commercial banks at 08:00 hours quoted the Kwacha at 20.18/20.23 to the greenback, unchanged from the previous day’s close.
“The local unit closed the trading session at 20.13/20.18/$, 5ngwee stronger after the Central Bank sold some dollars on the market,” the report said.
Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank (ZICB) indicated that the Kwacha traded in the range 20.10 and 20.20 with most players sitting on the fence.
“Globally, the U.S. Dollar was bullish across the board with most emerging market currencies trading on the back foot,” ZICB said. Elsewhere, the rand weakened ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s unveiling of a recovery plan that investors were awaiting for details on South Africa’s prospects of bouncing back from the coronavirus crisis.
The rand was 0.54 percent weaker at 16.6325 per dollar, from an overnight close of 16.5425 in New York.
Meanwhile, copper was trading just above the US$6,700 per tonne level but little impact on the performance of the local currency which closed at 20.15/20.20, a tad softer compared to its opening levels of 20.10/20.15.
Market liquidity is currently K2.9 billion
KWACHA TRADES FIRM
