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THE Kwacha has maintained its upward trend on Monday, posting a five ngwee gain amid copper price falling to its lowest of US$4,778.50 a tonne in six weeks.
Copper continues to be Zambia’s foreign currency earner and has a major impact on the global trade merchandise inflow performance which has recently been posting deficits.
“The Kwacha continued to gain against the United States (US) dollar for a ninth consecutive day as weak demand for the foreign currency failed to absorb the recent dollar glut in local markets,” Zanaco notes in its daily treasury newsletter issued yesterday.
On Monday, the local unit appreciated five ngwee from its previous close as a result to close at K 10.89/K10.91.
Zanaco says although trading was more subdued on the day, market activity remained tilted towards sellers of the greenback which overwhelmed demand.
“In the near term, the Kwacha is likely to remain bullish against the dollar although reduced demand for the Kwacha going into a new month is likely to reign in gains,” the bank notes.
It is likely, float within a K10.80 to K11.20 trading range.
However, the British pound and South African rand fell on the day against the greenback by 0.1 percentage point at US$1.422 and 0.5 percentage points at 14.767, respectively.
On the commodities market, copper touched its lowest in a month in six weeks on Monday as investors pared long positions on persisting concern over Chinese growth and metals demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell for the seventh straight session.
The price dropped to US$4,778.50 a tonne, its lowest since March 3, before paring losses to US$4,800 by 1400 GMT, down 0.7 percentage point.
Zambia Daily Mail
