{"id":40996,"date":"2026-07-29T13:06:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=40996"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:06:54","slug":"rand-tracks-subdued-market-peers-ahead-of-fed-interest-rate-decision","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/rand-tracks-subdued-market-peers-ahead-of-fed-interest-rate-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Rand tracks subdued market peers ahead of Fed interest rate decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The South African (SA) Rand was subdued in early trade on Wednesday, tracking other emerging market currencies as investors awaited the \u200bUnited States (US) Federal Reserve&#8217;s policy decision and comments from Fed Chairman \u200cKevin Warsh for clues on inflation and interest rate outlooks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The Rand traded at 16.7050 against the Dollar , a whisker away from Tuesday&#8217;s close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Market expectations indicate a 68% \u2060chance that the central bank will hold rates steady and \u200ba 32% probability of a 25 basis-point hike, according to the FedWatch \u200btool. Markets are pricing in a 77% chance of an increase in September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes its cues from global factors, particularly US \u200bmonetary policy, alongside domestic economic data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">SA Reserve Bank data on \u200bWednesday showed M3 money supply growth slowed to 9.31% in June from 9.59% \u200cin \u2060May, while private-sector credit growth eased to 7.80% from 8.57% and undershot the 8.35% forecast in a Reuters poll.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Investors were also monitoring renewed tensions in the Middle East after the US and Saudi Arabia launched strikes \u200bagainst Iran-backed groups \u200bin Iraq, pushing \u2060oil prices higher.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top 40 index was up 1% in early trade, led \u200bby mining stocks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">SA miner Valterra Platinum&#8217;s half-year profit soared \u200bby \u2060more than 1,600% on the back of stronger prices of platinum group metals and strong increases in output and sales volumes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Valterra Platinum was the\u00a0\u2060top\u00a0\u200bperformer on both the all-share and Top 40\u00a0\u200bindexes, rising more than 7%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">SA&#8217;s benchmark 2035 government bond weakened, with the yield rising \u200b3 basis points to 8.53%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13745,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-40996","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"SA Rand was subdued in early trade on Wednesday","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40997,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40996\/revisions\/40997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=40996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}