Rand claws back some gains in early trade 

The rand strengthened by 0.25% against the dollar in early trade on Monday morning, clawing back some of the losses of the past week. 

At 08:50 the local currency was at R14.91/$, after opening at R14.95 to the greenback. 

" [...] the main emerging market story this morning is that President Trump has suspended placing tariffs on Mexico indefinitely," said Andre Botha of TreasuryONE in a note. "This could account for some risk sentiment in favour of EM's as we have seen stock markets in Asia all in the green after the announcement." 

Asian stocks gain on Mexico relief

Cormac Mullen, Bloomberg

Asian stocks and US and European equity futures climbed Monday after President Donald Trump suspended plans for US tariffs on Mexico. Treasuries fell along with gold and the yen as demand for havens sank.

The Mexican peso jumped the most in almost a year after the US-Mexico agreement that was unveiled late Friday. Stocks climbed across the region, while futures on the S&P 500 Index and the Euro Stoxx 50 saw more modest gains.

The yen touched its low of the session after Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the Bank of Japan can deliver more stimulus if necessary.

The dollar advanced against major peers, taking back some of its losses from Friday in the wake of a weak US payrolls report.

Investor attention on the trade front will likely return to China, with the “main progress” in US-China talks reliant on Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit late this month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

For their part, G-20 finance chiefs over the weekend warned about escalating risks to growth from trade and geopolitical tensions.

“The focus will now shift back to the G-20 and China,’’ strategists at TD Securities including Richard Kelly wrote in a note. “Despite the positive result with Mexico, the US-China trade dispute is a different creature, and tensions remain high.”

US stocks on Friday closed out their best week since November after the American jobs report for May showed employers added the fewest workers in three months and wage gains cooled - bolstering bets on easier monetary policy. Fed funds futures show a quarter-point cut almost fully priced in for July.

Elsewhere, oil extended gains above $54 a barrel after US drilling activity slowed and Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to try and keep global markets in balance amid weakening demand.