South Africa's rand falls; investors await Fed meeting, domestic CPI data

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand fell early on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve meeting and local inflation data due this week.

At 0650 GMT, the rand traded at 16.0525 against the dollar, 0.23% weaker than its previous close.

Analysts at Oxford Economics Africa said in a note that markets were cautions ahead of a string of central bank policy decisions, and local consumer price inflation numbers.

The Fed's two-day meeting that begins later on Tuesday headlines a number of central banks announcing policy decisions this week, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of England on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday.

A slew of South African data including the November consumer price index, producer inflation and a leading business cycle indicator is due on Wednesday.

Government bonds were weaker, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 maturity up 1.5 basis points to 9.495%.