Potentially following on the heels of Barclay’s acquisition of Absa in 2005 and the acquisition of a 20% stake in Standard Bank by the Chinese ICBC, Nedbank is poised to become the third South African lender with a significant or majority foreign shareholding if the deal is finalized by November, as expected.

The announcement follows just days after Nedbank was absolved by the Securities Regulation Panel of breaching takeover procedures by failing to make an offer to shareholders of Acc-Ross, having accumulated more than 35% of the firm.

HSBC has identified Africa and other emerging markets as key sources of revenue growth, and although Standard Chartered is also believed to have expressed interest in Nedbank, no offers have been received. Foreign interest in Nedbank is considered a positive sign for South Africa. Says banking regulator Errol Kruger: “It is a vote of confidence for the country. The fact that they are prepared to commit such huge amounts of money or even considering investing in South Africa is indeed a vote of confidence in the future of the country and Africa.”

The proposed transaction with HSBS has been cautiously received from the market, local rivals, and banking regulators alike. Nedbank’s share price soared to an intra-day high Tuesday of more than R141 and closed 6.43% higher at R139.53.

The head of a major bank said Nedbank only stands to benefit from increased corporate and investment-banking revenue on a trade and investment flows, most notably between Asia and Africa.

Old Mutual CEO Julian Roberts agrees with the sale of Nedbank to a deep-pocketed banking parent like HSBC, which can only be a “win-win for all parties.” The sale of Nedbank is in line with Old Mutual’s strategy, announced earlier this year, to simplify its structure, sell non-core assets, reduce debts, and focus on its long term savings, protection and investment businesses.

Nedbank planned to expand in Africa, and HSBC’s investment would accelerate this process.

The rand bid at R7.2390 against the dollar, from R7.2640 at its previous close. Against the Euro, the rand bid at R9.3476 from R9.3120. Against the pound, the Euro came in at R11.3240, versus R11.3624 at its previous close.

The Euro was bid at $1.2885 from $1.2812. The rand is expected to maintain a range of R7.23-R7.28 based on the behavior of the Euro in the market.

In particular, South African economic activity has garnered the interest of the BRIC countries (Brazil, India, China, and Russia). Because some of these countries require increasing resources to grow their own economies, while others are looking to expand their global reach, South Africa must be able to demonstrate stability and a promising future in international economic markets. The country has already begun to do this – hosting the World Cup has shown that South Africa is capable of hosting an international event to international standards. For now, South Africa is far and away the largest and most liquid market in sub-Saharan Africa.

The central bank of South Africa hasn’t ruled out taking “reasonable and responsible” action to curb the rand’s gains in a way that will remain consistent with its inflation target. Because South Africa’s open market is affected by global financial markets, any attempts to control the exchange rate at a particular level are not feasible. The rand has experienced a surge of nearly 30% against the dollar since the beginning of FY 2009, which has served to undermine exports and economic growth in a country experiencing 25% unemployment.

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The week started off strong, with the rand closing at 7.2345 against the dollar Monday, but Tuesday saw a slip of .63%. The rand peaked at 7.1740 during Monday’s relatively sparse overseas trade, marking the firmest level that the currency has attained since early 2008. Markets in South Africa were closed Monday in celebration of the Women’s Day public holiday.

The gains experienced by the rand likely came off the back of the Euro and, for the moment, the rand seems to be remaining firm. However, the worker’s strike that kicked off at the beginning of the week could be troublesome, with public service workers demanding a nearly 9% pay increase. Though this is not anticipated to have any effect on the market, the possibility that the strike will continue or produce violence are cause for concern.

A spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will demand a bigger pay increase at a scheduled meeting with senior government official Thursday; for the moment, the strike is suspended. The nearly 9% pay raise being requested is double the current rate of inflation, and workers are demanding an additional monthly housing allowance on top of pay increases. Analysis has shown that it is in the government’s best interest to prevent a prolonged nation-wide strike that could negatively impact the country’s growing economy by fueling inflation and South Africa’s budget deficit, which will account for 6.2% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

According to companiesandmarkets there seems to still be some weaknesses in the economy where  “the rate of annual economic expansion will not return to the pre-financial crisis levels of 4.0-6.0% this year owing to a weak consumer sector, a small contraction in private investment, a rebound in imports and periodic strikes affecting the export sector”.

With a high crime rate, weak consumer sentiment and inflexible labour market should there be any concern that the ZAR is going to suffer from reduced proportional investment in the short term?  On Tuesday, fourteen unions rejected a government offer of a 7% salary increase sticking to the demands of 8.6% and an increased housing allowance, signaling 1.3  Million government workers to go on strike.  This caused the rand to drop by over 1% in trading according to Bloomberg South Africa.

At the time of writing ZAR/USD was at 7.2414 continuing a downward trend from the opening.

Representatives from Bank of England (BoE) will continue to maintain emergency measures for the duration of 2010 in an attempt to counteract downside risks. Furthermore, the UK faces a “depressed and slow recovery,” says Charles Goodhart of BoE, and will likely experience a rapid return to a rate of growth that is significantly lower. Inflation continues to hold above the government’s upper limit of 2%. Construction expansion for the month of July proceeded at a slower pace, with the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) falling from 58.4 to 54.1, despite forecasts for a 58.0 print. Continued weakness in the private sector could encourage BoE to support the economy in 2011 in order to promote sustainable recovery.

The Euro rallied against the greenback for two straight days, reaching a high of 1.3621 on the back of a weak dollar. Exchange rates may continue to increase into the North American market, riding on an upward trend carrying over from last month. Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Chairman, noted that commercial bank stress, most notably that of Greece, serves to underscore just how robust the European banking system is – even moreso than expected. As fiscal conditions improve, European Central Bank may see fit to resume its exit strategy going into 2011, but the Governing Council will likely support the economy over the next several months, as tightening fiscal policy weighs on prospects for future growth. Despite this, producer prices in the Euro zone increased .3% for June, just short of expectations for a .4% increase, while the annualized rate fell .1% unexpectedly, from 3.1% to 3.0%.

The greenback has continued to lose ground against the other major global currencies, particularly against the Japanese Yen, slipping to a yearly low of 85.72. The dollar is anticipated to experienced increased volatility going into the North American trade.

In relation to the euro, the rand was bid at R9.6732 from a previous close for R9.6795; the euro was bid at $1.3371 from $1.3358 previously.

Because the rand was stronger at the opening of the day, testing at R7.20 against the dollar, it has managed to come range-bound. Offshore debt issuance issues have resulted in a diluted forex impact at the end of the chain, which speculation that money will go straight to reserves, as is common with central government issuances.

Banking sector needs in countries like Greece will provide better insight into the rand. Representation on behalf of the European Central Bank (ECB) assured that the rescue package for Greece’s spiraling debt will continue to be shouldered at its window, and that this assurance is what prevented the euro and dollar from making new lows and generating a bounce.

Reports from Dow Jones newswires indicate that little change has been observed to the euro against the dollar, but that the yen has falling against both the dollar and the euro in Asia while the market awaited new developments on Greece’s sovereign debt.

New budget information released on Thursday indicated a brighter outlook for the Greek debt situation, and the ECB again voiced its confidence that struggling Greece will be able to meet its debt obligations.

The Asian session of the previous week should not be interpreted as foreshadowing a quiet week to come. If data indicates that the American economy will stay on a recovery path, it is possible that the dollar will resume rising next week lifting long-term US Treasury yields. The euro may continue to slide if a suitable plan for Greece’s debt is not generated in a timely fashion; upturns in Greek government bond yields have served to underscore mounting worries over Greek debt.

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Forex Yard wants its clients to understand the trading process and receive prompt answers to their questions. Customer and trading support are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also access the special forex training and education section of the Forex Yard website at any time. To ease you into the trading process, Forex Yard offers a virtual trading demo that will allow you to practice trading using real time quotes and full platform functionality while only risking pretend money.

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Forex Yard has a policy that emphasizes fairness for all its clients; Forex Yard wants to provide less experienced clients with every possible advantage, which means tighter spreads across the board. Tight spreads are no longer relegated to more experienced traders – a universal pip rate means new traders receive the exact same spreads and professional traders.

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eToro is a forex trading brokerage company that offers a true multinational approach to currency trading. Based out of and with corporate offices in Limassol, Cyprus, eToro brings services to clients in 11 languages, with local toll-free numbers for clients in Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Jordan, Canada, France, Malaysia, and Bahrain.

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Whether you are a seasoned trader or just getting started, Etoro provides a variety of options and functions to give you the smoothest experience possible. Content-rich website and trading platform facilitate easy transactions, and eToro does not operate in conjunction with any partners, though it does have its own affiliate program.

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Opening an account on eToro is less expensive than many other trading services. Users need a minimum of $50 to begin trading, and money can easily be transferred into your eToro account using bank transfers, credit card, of PayPal. If you’ve made money off of your trades, have those funds transferred to your credit card or bank account.

Forex trading with eToro is done 100% free of commission. Leverage ratios vary from 1:10 to 1:400.

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eToro makes the full version of their trading platform available for download, as well as a demo program to get you acclimated to trading with eToro. The eToro software provides users with multiple ways of trading forex online. Some of these trading tools include:

Forex marathon: Choose a given currency to trade it against its pair.

Forex trend: Learn about economic trends and view analyses of the currency available for trading.

Globe Trader: Get started in forex trading, and once you’re acclimated, user Forex Match for a more technical analysis of tradable currencies.

Advanced traders will also enjoy Trade Box, which is designed for seasoned traders that like to trade in multiple currency pairs.

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AvaFX was founded in 2006 by a team of financial professionals. This top brokerage company serves over 50,000 registered customers and handles volumes in excess of $20 billion each month. Most importantly, AvaFX is backed by a major, reliable financial institution with more than $17 billion in assets under its management. Furthermore, AvaFX is rated “A+” in accordance with the standards used by a major S&P-affiliated rating institution. AvaFX is headquartered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, with logistic operations taking place out of Nicosia, Cyprus.

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Unlike other trading platforms, AvaFX works from a user-oriented perspective; its operations are built around the user. AvaFX utilizes its own proprietary software, giving the firm the ability to leverage the power of leading banks and financial institutions around the world. From the perspective of the user, AvaFX provides consumers with a platform that is easy to use while offering the full breadth of functions in a rich trading environment.

AvaFX users are able to choose from three different account levels – silver, gold, and platinum. Account levels are based on the minimum amount required to open – silver accounts have a minimum of $100, gold accounts have a minimum of $1,000, and platinum accounts have a minimum of $10,000. Free bonuses of $50, $100 and $200 are offered to clients for each of the three account types, respectively.

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Trading with AvaFX takes places through the Ava Trader, the firm’s proprietary platform. Users can get acclimated with a $100,000 practice account, and may then choose from one of the three account types mentioned previously. Ava Trader is ideal for trading in dozens of currencies and commodities. Switch with the simple click of a mouse between trading forex to trading in the units of the NASDAQ 100, S&P 500, Dow 30, or in any of a wide variety of commodities, like crude oil, gold, and wheat.

Funding your account is just as easy – you can use PayPal or your credit card, and setup takes just a few moments. Ava Trader can be used in Chinese, Arabic, French, Italian, and Dutch.

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Because its proprietary software is so intuitive and user-friendly, even novice traders will find the online trading platform welcoming. For advanced traders, the most sophisticated, desirable tools are also available.

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Traders using Ava Trader have access to 24-hour web-based support in multiple languages.

Other advantages to using AvaFX

AvaFX values strong business practices that make trading easy and hassle-free. AvaFX customer accounts are audited quarterly by Ernst &Young, with customer funds backed by Commerzbank of Frankfurt, one of the top financial institutions in Germany. In the interest of transparency, AvaFX provides information on its entire management team in an easy-to-access location on its website.

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