Andre Botha, Senior Dealer at TreasuryONE said in a morning note that the rand was enjoying the slip in the dollar.

By 10:53, the rand was changing hands at R14.43 to the greenback.

"The story at the moment is the US dollar that is currently looking like it's on a slippery slope against most currencies. The US dollar index is at 3-week lows as global growth fears and struggling yields from the Treasury notes and the inversion of the 3M-10 yield curve are weighing in on the US dollar.

"Furthermore, there have been signals from the Fed that they have been thinking of cutting rates with a Fed member stating yesterday that an interest rate cut could be warranted with the rise in trade tensions and lack of inflation. In the commodity space, the run to safe havens due to fear of global growth has been plain to see with Gold almost $50 up from last week and Oil trading at $60 per barrel level. 

"On the South African front, we have the local GDP number out later this morning and the expectation is that the GDP will contract by -1.6% q/q but any number greater than this could see the rand giving up some of its gains against the US dollar.

"Looking ahead to the week, the rollercoaster for the rand is not over, with Current Account data and the US non-farm payroll number still to be released later on.

"Today the rand is enjoying the slip in US dollar but there are two-way risks for the rand in the form of the GDP print. The bias is for the number to disappoint and the rand to lose a bit of ground."

Asian stocks mixed as headwinds persist

Andreea Papuc, Bloomberg

Stocks fluctuated in Asia Tuesday with US futures after a technology rout sank Nasdaq shares overnight. Treasuries came off their highs after yields dived on growing conviction the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Equity benchmarks edged down in China and Hong Kong and were little changed in Japan and South Korea.

Australian shares edged higher and the Aussie dollar fluctuated after the central bank cut interest rates to a record low as expected.

US futures ticked higher and European futures declined. Ten-year Treasury yields climbed. Two-year US yields earlier dropped to their lowest since 2017 after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the central bank may need to lower rates soon amid the trade war.

There was no let-up in negativity as June began, after a brutal May that saw the value of most risk assets depleted. The latest signs of factory weakness in major economies weighed on investor sentiment already frayed by a worsening trade war.

A measure of American manufacturing activity fell in May to the lowest since October 2016. Bank of America and Citigroup have lowered their US corporate profit forecasts while pointing out the risk of a recession amid a trade war.

In the US, selling was heaviest in the likes of Facebook, Amazon.com, Alphabet and Apple. Those companies appeared set to undergo antitrust probes after the US Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission agreed to split up oversight of technology giants.

The Nasdaq 100 Index tumbled more than 2% Monday.

Elsewhere, oil hovered on the edge of a bear market as Wall Street banks raised the spectre of a recession, while Saudi Arabia tried to assure investors that OPEC will avert a supply glut.

PIC forced board shakeup at MTN in push for fewer disputes

MTN Group’s biggest shareholder is pushing for changes at Africa’s largest mobile-phone company to avoid the regulatory, legal and political disputes that have cut its share price by more than half over the past four years.

The Public Investment Corporation built a 26% stake in Johannesburg-based MTN by late November and used that to call for the replacement of Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko, people familiar with the matter said. Africa’s biggest fund manager, which is South African state-owned, also sent a letter to MTN demanding a board reorganisation, said one of the people. That resulted in the appointment of more politically connected directors.