South Africa’s rand firm, focus on Fed meeting

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s rand firmed slightly early on Tuesday, as the market’s attention turned to this week’s US Federal Reserve meeting where an interest rate hike is expected.

At 0650 GMT, the rand traded at 15.1175 against the dollar, 0.13% firmer than its previous close.

The Fed is set to raise rates for the first time since the pandemic at its meeting, which concludes Wednesday, with traders looking for indications about the pace of future rate hikes.

“Tomorrow’s FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) rate decision is what everyone will be waiting for and so I guess there will be quite a lot of water treading whilst one eye will be kept on the headlines ticker,” Warrick Butler, chief trader at Standard Bank, wrote in a note.

Traders also expected risk appetite to be kept in check by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond was up 2.5 basis points to 9.88%.