The South African (SA) Rand firmed against the United States (US) Dollar in early trade on Monday as investors looked ahead to inflation data later this week for clues on the health of Africa’s largest economy.
The Rand traded at 16.1425 against the Dollar, up roughly 0.4% from its previous close.
Statistics SA is due to release July inflation data on Wednesday, with analysts polled by Reuters expecting a cooler reading of 4.5%.
Headline inflation accelerated to a two-year high of 5.0% in June from 4.5% in May, driven mainly by transport costs.
Economists at Nedbank said they expected it to slow to 4.3%, citing lower transport costs resulting from a decline in fuel prices.
The US Dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies on Monday, while gold prices edged higher, supported by recent softer than expected US economic data that has dampened expectations of a US interest rate increase next month.
SA’s benchmark 2035 government bond was little changed in early deals, as the yield fell half a basis point to 8.425%.
–Reuters–
