JOHANNESBURG: The rand was steady against the dollar in early Monday trade and should hold its own as the market awaits Thursday's monetary policy statement, at which the Reserve Bank is likely to keep interest rates at 30-year lows.
By 0646 GMT the rand traded at 8.2650 versus the dollar, barely changed from Friday's close at 8.2625.
Emerging market sentiment remained cautiously buoyant after data last week showed growth is holding up steadily in China, a key importer of South African commodities, traders said.
The currency has also been supported by strong flows into the debt market from foreign accounts looking for yield.
"It is hard to envisage a weaker rand over the next few sessions and technically this is also the case so we will look for opportunities to sell into rallies for now, albeit on purely an intra-day basis," Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said.
"There is a minor short-term support trend-line at 8.2300 and a break of that could see us move to last Tuesday's (highs) of 8.1600," he added.
Government bonds steadied after last week's rally, which pushed yields to new record lows.
The yield on the three-year paper was flat at its previous close of 5.81 percent while that for the 14-year issue ticked up 1.5 basis points to 7.64 percent.
On the local front, the market is looking for direction from consumer inflation and retail sales data due on Wednesday while Thursday's monetary policy statement could give clues on whether a rate cut is in the offing later this year.
All but two of the 23 economists polled by Reuters on Friday expected the repo rate to stay unchanged at 5.5 percent for now, but seven predicted a 50 basis point cut before year-end to give the struggling economy more stimulus.
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