JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand was steady in early trade on Thursday, ahead of the release of current account data by the central bank while global investors await data for clearer cues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
At 0724 GMT the rand traded at 17.0550 against the dollar , little changed from its Wednesday close of 17.0450.
The South African Reserve Bank will publish third-quarter current account data at 0900 GMT, with analysts polled by Reuters expecting a deficit of 1.3%, wider than the 1.1% deficit reported in the previous quarter.
“Locally, we are expecting a smaller current account deficit of -R32 billion, but there is little coming out of the U.S. to cause major movement. A slightly lower gold price might cause the ZAR to pause over the next couple of days,” said Adam Phillips, treasury specialist at Umkhulu Treasury.
The dollar last traded flat against a basket of currencies as global investors remain cautious ahead of next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was also broadly steady in early deals, with its yield down 3 basis points at 8.32%.
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