JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand held within a recent range against the dollar on Tuesday as concerns about economic growth in the United States knocked the greenback off its recent highs.
The dollar was pressured by disappointing manufacturing data in the previous session that raised fears about growth in the world's largest economy.
The rand was at 10.8250 to the dollar at 0656 GMT, firming slightly from Monday's close but remaining within its trading levels. "Global markets are relatively subdued, leaving dollar/rand struggling to break below 10.82," said John Cairns, a currency strategist for Rand Merchant Bank. "Event risks aren't particularly high and the local market seems intent on waiting for the MPC decision on Thursday." The South African Reserve Bank will announce its second monetary policy decision of the year on Thursday after hiking rates for the first time in nearly six years in January as a weak rand stoked inflation.
Economists expect the bank will keep the repo rate at 5.5 percent this time around, but will raise it again later in the year.
Yields on government bonds were down slightly as bonds firmed with the steady currency. The yield on the 2026 benchmark issue was at 8.56 percent, while that on the 2015 note traded at 6.945 percent.
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