• USD/ZAR extended its losses on Tuesday as investors weighed data pointing to a cooling U.S. economy, lifting expectations for further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve next year.
• The U.S. economy added 64,000 jobs in November, beating economists’ expectations, after shedding 105,000 jobs in October, Labor Department data showed.
• Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November from 4.4%, marking its highest level since 2021. Still, the jobs data was not as weak as some had feared.
• Fed funds futures are indicating a 73.4% probability that the U.S. central bank will keep rates unchanged at its January 28 meeting, up from around 70% a week earlier, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
• Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes cues from global drivers such as U.S. policy and economic data in addition to domestic releases.
• Immediate resistance is located at 16.889(Dec 15th high), any close above will push the pair towards 17.047(SMA 20).
• Strong support is seen at 16.718(23.6%fib) and break below could take the pair towards 16.650(Lower BB)
Recommendation: Good to sell around 16.900 with stop loss of 17.000 and target price of 16.650
