Rand a little firmer at the start of a busy week
The rand was a little firmer on Monday morning, ahead of a week that is full of economic news.
The primary event is the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision on Wednesday, when local markets will be closed for the Workers’ Day public holiday.
The rand is finding support after the release of US GDP data for the first quarter on Friday, although consumer inflation was a little higher than expected.
Focus will be on the Fed’s assessment of the economic health of the US, as well as its forward guidance for interest rates, said Rand Merchant Bank analyst Mpho Tsebe.
At 9.40am the rand was 0.39% firmer at R14.3293/$, up 0.24% to R15.9961/€ and 0.24% stronger at R18.5451/£. The euro was 0.15% firmer at $1.1163.
The bid on the benchmark R186 government bond was at 8.545% from 8.56%.
Later on Monday the EU is scheduled to report consumer confidence data, and the US will release personal income and spending numbers as well.
Locally, the balance of trade figures are due on Tuesday, while the Absa purchasing managers index is due on Thursday.
Source: businesslive.co.za
