Rand weakens ahead of US consumer prices

The rand weakened in early trade on Thursday, as traders braced for US consumer price inflation data, which is expected to spur further Federal Reserve rate hikes.

At 0722 GMT, the rand traded at 18.38 against the dollar, 0.44% weaker than its previous close.

“The USD-ZAR is currently treading water around 18.30, with a break towards 18.50 on the cards in the event that the US CPI data come out higher than expected, while a retracement back to 18.00 could follow if the data disappoint,” economists at ETM Analytics wrote in a note.

Traders will also be looking at data on August mining, which will be released by Statistics South Africa at 0930 GMT.

On the stock market, the Top-40 .JTOPIindex was down around 0.3% while the broader all-share dropped more than 0.2% in early trade.

The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was weaker in early deals, with the yield up 2.5 basis points to 10.855%.