Rand steady, focus on Fed meeting

South Africa’s rand was steady in early trade on Monday amid subdued risk appetite, as investors turned their focus towards the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week for fresh clues on its interest rate trajectory.

At 0811 GMT, the rand traded at R18.78 against the dollar.

The dollar was also little-changed at 103.53 against a basket of currencies, ahead of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting starting on Tuesday.

Risk appetite was muted early on Monday with an escalation of tensions in the Middle East after three US soldiers were killed in Jordan, said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.

The local focus this week will be on December money supply, budget and trade balance figures.

On the stock market, the Top 40 index was down 0.52% while the broader all-share was 0.6% lower in early trade.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally stronger in early deals, with the yield down 0.5 basis point to 9.755%.