By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
THE Kwacha remained weaker against the dollar on Monday extending its losses for a third straight day, the Zanaco Daily Newsletter has stated.
From an opening of K5.57/5.58, the Kwacha slipped by one ngwee to a close of K5.58/5.59.
The local currency last traded above the K5.6 mark in December 2013 and prior to that, only in May 2009.
The Zanaco Daily Newsletter stated that in the near term the Kwacha was likely to face sustained pressure from dollar demand and should remain weak and absent of significant dollar inflows.
The trading range is expected between K5.56 and K5.63.
Money market liquidity continued to rise on Monday reaching a February high of K2 372.83 million from K2 256.16 million, representing 5.17 per cent increase.
The volume of funds traded on the interbank market stayed relatively low decreasing to K75.0 million from the previous day’s K90.0 million and the weighted average overnight lending rate dropped slightly to 10.19 per cent from 10.25 per cent.
And Copper fell to a two-month low on Monday, with slowing factory growth in top consumer China and the United States (US) compounding a deteriorating demand outlook for the metal.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) ended at $7,038 a tonne, after falling to its lowest in two months at US $7,025. It closed at $7,095 on Friday and lost 4 per cent in January, its weakest since June.
