JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar on Wednesday ahead of domestic inflation data as markets also await the Federal Reserve's policy meeting announcement.
At 0730 GMT the rand was little changed at 8.6535 against the greenback after ending Tuesday's New York session at 8.6551. Consumer price inflation figures are due at 0800 GMT, with economists expecting year-on-year inflation to have remained steady at 5.6 percent in November.
A higher number could raise the prospect of monetary tightening next year which could be supportive of the currency while inflation on the downside would raise hopes that rates could be cut again, which might push the currency weaker.
"The rand remains relatively range bound, it had that initial rally and then after that we've seen the rand actually supported around 8.60," said Brigid Taylor, head of institutional sales at Nedbank.
Government bonds edged up in early trade, with yields down a single basis point on the benchmark 14-year bond to 7.31 percent and the three-year issue, which was at 5.425 percent.
Center>Copyright Reuters, 2012
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