Rand little changed after volatile week

The rand was little changed in early trade on Friday after a volatile week.

The rand traded at R17.62 against the dollar at 0625 GMT, not far from its previous closing level of R17.61.

In the early part of the week the rand was pressured by expectations for aggressive monetary policy tightening by the US  Federal Reserve, which delivered a 75 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday.

It recovered lost ground on Thursday, however, when the South African Reserve Bank also hiked rates by 75 basis points.

The South African government’s benchmark 2030 bond was a touch weaker in early deals, the yield rising 1 basis point to 10.60%.

Later on Friday, the government will auction inflation-linked bonds and Treasury bills.