Morning market (26.4)

Local equities traded lower on Friday while the currency strengthened against the majors, reports Nico Kelder, economist at the Efficient Group.

The rand strengthened by more than one percent against the euro and the pound and the dollar slid by almost 1% against the euro.

Commodities reacted positively to the weaker dollar; oil bucked the trend and lost almost 1%. European and US markets closed higher on Friday.

Markets in the Far East are mixed with the Nikkei gaining some ground while the Hang Seng is 2% lower so far this morning.

We expect that the market should trade higher, but, as usual, the movement of the currency could influence this.