Zimpapers Logo

JOHANNESBURG. — South Africa’s rand clung to recent gains early yesterday as global risk appetite retreated after the United States central bank played down expectations of aggressive interest-rate cuts.

At 0645 GMT, the rand was up 0,19 percent at 14,3300 per dollar from an overnight close of 14,3575. Lack of local economic data and a political lull kept the currency in a narrow range.

The early session was mixed for emerging-market currencies, with most Asian currencies slipping back while commodity-backed currencies remained steady.

“Yesterday evening saw speeches from a few Fed officials tempering down the possibility of US rate cuts at the July meeting,” said Oliver Alwar said, a senior trader at Standard Bank. “This resulted in EM currencies relinquishing some gains, global equities retreating and the dollar come back to a small degree.”

On Tuesday, members of the Federal Reserve’s policy committee toned down the outlook for rates, with St Louis Fed President James Bullard saying a 50-basis-point rate cut “would be overdone.”

Investors still expect a cut of at least a quarter point at the bank’s July meeting.
Bonds were flat, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 down 0,5 basis points to 8,165 percent. — Reuters Africa.