Rand muted as markets mull Fed meeting minutes
The rand was muted on Thursday morning as global investors digested the US central bank’s gloomy economic outlook.
At 9.20am, the rand was little changed at R17.2394/$, while the currency has gained 3.2% over the past 10 days. It was flat at R20.4400/€ and had firmed 0.11% to R22.5480/£. The euro had strengthened 0.12% to $1.18565.
“Emerging-market currencies have all lost ground as the market moves back to the dollar.” said TreasuryOne senior currency dealer Andre Botha.
In its meeting minutes released on Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve painted a bleak picture of the country’s economic outlook due to the effects of Covid-19 and hinted at the possibility of more policy action.
The yield on the R2030 government bond had risen one basis point to 9.30%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
“With no local data, expect yields to follow global risk sentiment,” said Sasfin fixed-income trader Alvin Chawasema.
Gold added 0.75% to $1,942.68/oz, while platinum was down 0.20% to $932.62. Brent crude was down 0.38% to $45 a barrel.
Source: businesslive.co.za
