Rand somewhat weaker after Thursday's big gains 

“The rand had a fantastic day  as the local unit pressed to within touching distance of R13.60. This was all on the back of the US dollar slipping against all major currencies due to the dovish comments by Fed Chairman Powell and further dovish Fed minutes that were released last night.

This has placed the rand in a good position as we head into the weekend.Looking at today, we have a light data day with the only relevant number out today our trade number that will be released later this afternoon. We only expect a spike in the Rand should the number disappoint massively to the downside. However, the rand could have some volatility next week as the details of the G-20 summit gets released and whether President Trump relaxes his stance on tariffs with China."

Economists, Wall Street split on Fed signals 

Economists and investors have been scratching their heads this week over signals from the Federal Reserve, which left the future of US monetary policy open to broadly divergent interpretations.In remarks delivered on Wednesday in New York, Fed chairman Jerome Powell uttered words that set Wall Street on fire.

Claiming that benchmark lending rates were "just below" a range of estimates for "neutral," that is, neither stimulating nor slowing growth, Powell sent a signal that markets took to mean the Fed might ease off on raising rates in 2019.

Tokyo stocks open flat as investors await US-China summit

Tokyo stocks opened flat on Friday as investors took wait-and-see attitudes ahead of a US-China summit during the G20 this weekend.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down just 0.01% or 2.19 points at 22 260.41 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.08% or 1.38 points at 1 660.85.

"As investors step aside to wait for the US-China summit, today's focus will be whether the Nikkei index can rebound" to around 22 300, Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a commentary.

Japan's factory output in October was up 2.9% from the previous month, after a 0.4% dip in September, official data showed before the opening bell, but it had little impact on stocks or currency markets.