Rand little changed as power cuts ease

The rand was little changed on Monday as a reduction in the intensity of rolling power cuts boosted the currency.

At 15.14, the rand traded at 18.1950 against the dollar, near its previous close of 18.1900.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six major rivals, was up 0.16% to 102.46. It remained close to a one-month low of 102.00 it touched on Friday.

“Locally, loadshedding (blackouts) have somewhat diminished allowing for businesses to run more efficiently and if this trend is to continue, the rand may gain additional traction,” DailyFX analyst Warren Venketas said.

Electricity supply improves

Increased generation over recent days at state utility Eskom’s power stations has meant South Africans have faced electricity outages that last less than three hours a day, a major improvement on the up to 10 hours without power daily households and businesses have suffered over the last year.

This week, local investors will examine May inflation figures for clues on the health of the economy. Analysts polled by Reuters expect May year-on-year figure to have eased to 6.5% from 6.8% reported in April.

On the stock market, both the Top-40 index .JTOPI and the broader all-share index .JALSH fell around 0.7%.

South Africa‘s benchmark 2030 government bond ZAR2030= was weaker, with the yield up four basis points to 10.780%.

Additional reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Bhargav Acharya. Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Barbara Lewis