Morning report - 3 Feb.

A stronger currency spoiled the equity party again yesterday, says Nico Kelder, economist at the Efficient Group.

The rand continue to claw back some of its January losses. However, the market is not as weak as would have been expected given the exchange rate, pointing to some underlying strength in equities.

The bond market strengthened as both the R150 and R153 gained a few points. Gold and platinum traded higher on the back of a weaker dollar, while the oil price was largely unchanged.

European and US markets remained flat yesterday while the markets in the Far East are trading lower this morning; the Nikkei losing almost 2% so far.

We expect that the currency will once again dominate trading on the bond and equity markets, international trends may give the markets some life.