Rand rallies on weakened dollar, high precious metal prices, steady US rates
JOHANNESBURG – The rand rallied 0.6 percent on Thursday on the back of the weakened dollar and high precious metal prices after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged.
The rand made significant gains and closed the market at R14.58/$ after opening trade at R14.69/$.
On Wednesday, the Fed held rates during the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting as expected.
The Fed said this was based on the current state of the US economy as well as persistently low inflation, and that there would be no rate changes in 2020.
Senior dealer at TreasuryONE Andre Botha said Wall Street had closed the day marginally in positive territory and futures had opened higher. Botha said, however, the emerging market currencies had recovered as the dollar and the pound weakened overnight as markets braced for UK election results.
Source: iol.co.za
