Rand edges lower ahead of budget balance, Fed meeting

The rand edged lower early on Tuesday ahead of local budget balance figures and as investors brace themselves for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision this week.

At 0805 GMT, the rand traded at R18.83 against the dollar.

The dollar index was last up 0.04% against a basket of currencies.

Investor focus will be on December local budget balance data to be released by the National Treasury while the Fed meeting gets underway later in the day.

On the stock market, both the Top 40 index and the broader all-share were up 0.4% in early trade.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 2.5 basis points to 9.740%.