South African Rand trading lower as election result looms

South African Rand saw a drop this week as a result of early polls suggesting that the current governing party, the African National Congress, is on track to lose its majority. If the early polls are correct we will likely see weeks of uncertainty as the ANC will be forced to negotiate a coalition will smaller parties.

ZAR has traded over 1.5% lower against the US Dollar this week, trading as low as 18.72 on Thursday. Rand was also down 1.3% on the week against the Euro and 1.4% down against GBP.

Votes began to be counted today after polling opened on Wednesday, in what many analysts have called the most contested election since the end of apartheid.

According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the current governing party, African National Congress are predicted to secure 42% of the national vote.

As of this morning, approximately 12% of the votes had been tallied, and markets are expected to gain a clearer picture of the outcome as counting continues.

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