JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand rallied on Wednesday, recovering from the previous day’s losses, as the dollar dipped and safe-haven gold gained before the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.
At 1603 GMT, the rand traded at 15.7300 against the dollar, roughly 1.8% stronger than its previous close.
The dollar was down around 0.3% against a basket of currencies, with traders reluctant to add to bullish dollar positions, while gold – an important South African export – advanced 0.5%.
The Fed minutes, due at 1900 GMT, could provide clues on the U.S. central bank’s plan on interest rate hikes and the tapering of its pandemic-induced stimulus.
Higher rates in developed markets tend to drain capital from higher-yielding but riskier emerging markets such as South Africa, weighing on their currencies.
Earlier on Wednesday, a purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey showed South African private sector activity contracted in December.
Firms, however, were largely optimistic that the economy would recover from the latest COVID-19 wave, contributing to a strong 12-month outlook.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) was largely unchanged on Wednesday, as a drop in the shares of heavyweights Naspers and Prosus checked momentum.
Global equities showed signs that the enthusiasm of the early trading sessions of the year was starting to fade, as investors braced for Fed rate hikes.
Naspers and its subsidiary Prosus fell by more than 3% after Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings – in which Naspers holds a 29% stake – sold 14.5 million shares worth $3 billion in Singapore-based gaming and e-commerce group Sea, triggering a wider Asian technology sell-off.
Tencent owns China’s biggest messaging app WeChat and a wide stable of gaming and consumer internet applications.
The JSE’s All-share index closed up 0.01% at 75,061 points while the top 40 companies index ended down 0.05% at 68,367 points.
In fixed income, the yield on the 2030 government bond fell 4.5 basis points to 9.385%.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Promit Mukherjee; editing by Barbara Lewis)
