Rand edges down as traders book profits

The rand edged lower in early trade on Tuesday, giving back the previous session’s gains as traders booked profits with an eye on offshore events.

At 06:45 GMT the rand was 0.21% weaker at 14.18 per dollar, having rallied to 14.11 during New York trade after comments by the US Federal Reserve suggesting a slower pace of monetary tightening lifted demand for risk currencies.

With no significant data due locally until Thursday and trade volumes still relatively light traders were looking to shave profits off minor rallies with momentum in either direction unclear.

Having tumbled to 2-year lows just shy of 16.00 mark earlier this month, as the massive selloff in Turkish lira spread to other emerging markets, the rand has seen increased intraday volatility and susceptibility to local and international newsflow.

Bonds were also a touch weaker, with the yield on the benchmark government paper due in 2026 adding 1.5 basis points to 8.8%

Stocks were set to open flat at 07:00 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange’s Top-40 futures index up 0.1%.