JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand inched up in early trade on Thursday, ahead of the release of a quarterly bulletin by the country’s central bank and monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) figures.
At 0610 GMT the rand traded at 17.72 against the dollar, roughly up 0.1% on Wednesday’s close.
The South African Reserve Bank will publish its quarterly bulletin at 0800 GMT, shedding light on foreign direct investment and portfolio flows in the first three months of this year.
The country’s statistics agency will follow shortly at 0930 GMT with May producer inflation data, which will provide insights on price pressures in Africa’s most industrialised economy.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the producer inflation to come in at 0.7% year-on-year from 0.5% recorded in April.
Nedbank economists forecast a slightly wider increase of 0.8%.
“The upward pressure mainly emanated from food inflation, which continues to rise off a low base. Even so, the increase in PPI was partly contained by lower fuel prices,” they said in a research note.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly weaker in early deals, as the yield rose 1 basis point to 9.935%.
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