JOHANNESBURG: South African government bonds were largely steady and the rand was not far off previous closing levels against the dollar on Thursday, ahead of the central bank's decision on interest rates.
Markets and economists widely expect the Reserve Bank to keep the benchmark repo at a four-decade low of 5 percent, but will monitor governor Gill Marcus's speech that starts at 1300 GMT to gauge whether her concerns have shifted about rising inflation pressures and anaemic growth.
The 2026 benchmark bond was yielding 7.82 percent in early trade, up half a basis point from Wednesday's close.
The 2015 paper dipped half a basis point to 5.92 percent.
The rand traded at 9.8315 against the greenback by 0648 GMT, just 0.15 percent softer than its New York close at 9.8200.
"There is little news flow that can provide strong direction to the rand today. It is therefore very likely to drift in the 9.80-95 range," Rand Merchant Bank analyst Theuns de Wet said in a note.
"Event risk flows from the South African Reserve Bank's statement this afternoon. However, given that we don't forecast any change in the policy stance, we don't expect it to move the market significantly."Marcus is due to start her speech at 1300 GMT.
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