Rand stabilises after volatile week

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

At 0630 GMT, the rand traded at R19.03 against the dollar.

The rand weakened on Monday on risk aversion linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, before gaining sharply on Tuesday and Wednesday on lower US Treasury yields and dovish comments by Federal Reserve officials.

South Africa’s currency dropped again on Thursday as US inflation rose more than expected and local economic data points were mixed.

Analysts say the next big local market event will be the mid-term budget on November 1, when South Africa’s deteriorating public finances will be in the spotlight.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly weaker in early deals, the yield up 3.5 basis points to 10.705%.