The rand is expected to face some volatility today, say analysts.

"Voting day has come and gone and the rand's trading pattern remains intact: a stronger rand was witnessed in overnight trade and during non-trading days in SA, with the unit reaching a high of R14.30/$ yesterday. We expect some volatility in the rand as the election results become known, with an intraday range of R14.30 to R14.48," said Peregrine Treasury Solutions's Bianca Botes in a morning note to clients. 

All eyes on Steinhoff as shares resume JSE trade after public holiday

Shares in Steinhoff will resume trading on the JSE on Thursday after the Stellenbosch-headquartered retail conglomerate published its long-delayed 2017 earnings late on Tuesday.The group's shares were last quoted at R2.01 a share at close of trade on Tuesday.

The local bourse was shut on Wednesday for elections.

Asian stocks drop as tariffs loom

Adam Haigh, Bloomberg

Stocks fell in Asia alongside US and European equity futures as the clock ran down for an escalation in tariffs between the world’s two largest economies.

The yen rose alongside Treasuries, while the yuan dropped to its weakest since January. President Donald Trump kept up the hard-line rhetoric, saying China “broke the deal” and would pay, though added that “it will all work out” in comments to supporters at a rally.

China has warned that it will retaliate should the US hike tariffs as advertised on Friday. After opening to losses, Asian stocks and S&P 500 Index futures hit their lows of the session after China reported weaker-than-forecast lending data for April.

Equity benchmarks in Tokyo and Hong Kong slid more than 1%, and Seoul’s Kospi tumbled more than 2.5 percent. Crude oil also fell.

Emerging market currencies tumbled, with the Korean won leading losses on Thursday.

As it has been since Trump’s tariff-warning tweet on Sunday, trade is set to continue to be the focus as key bilateral talks approach.

China’s top trade negotiator, Liu He, is scheduled to be in the US on Thursday and Friday.

They will start after data renewed concerns about how strong China’s economic stabilization is.

Aggregate financing for April came in below all 27 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

“Volatility in the markets is really headline driven, particularly around the fluid conversations between the US and China,” said Charlie Ripley, a senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management.

“We’ll have to see how this thing plays out at the end of the week here, but we would continue to expect this environment as long as the headlines are going back-and-forth.”