Intense volatility on the rand trading in a wide range during the afternoon session. It briefly traded above R18.50 before racing back down to the R18.30 handle it seems comfortable at the moment. The volatility is purely offshore driven, with US Treasury Yields soaring initially as US markets opened and we saw the 10yr yield rise to 4.37%, the highest level since 2007. The pound also received a hammering and lost over 1%, trading at 1.1061 at a stage, while the Yen nearly touched 152 against the dollar. Rumours of a massive amount of dollar option maturities settling in the market today could be the main driver for the sharp this afternoon, as markets settled down shortly after and returned to normal.

Next Thursday could provide some fresh direction for the dollar with the ECB rate decision and Q3 GDP figures being released in a short space of time. The current expectation is for a 75bps hike by the ECB, and would be supportive for a euro that has been trading relatively stable over the past week. In the US, the expected growth for the US economy during the 3rd quarter is 4.3% year-on-year, while the quarter-on-quarter growth is expected to come in at 9.1%. 

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