JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was little changed on Thursday, as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting contained few surprises.
At 1530 GMT, the rand traded at 15.7550 against the dollar, around 0.1% weaker than its previous close.
“While the minutes reiterated that the Fed would likely implement two 50-bp rate hikes in June and July, they also confirmed that it was considering a potential policy pause thereafter to assess the effects of aggressive policy tightening,” ETM Analytics said in a research note.
“There were thus no major surprises in the minutes, which explains the dollar’s consolidation after an initial bump higher.”
Statistics South Africa figures on Thursday showed April producer inflation quickened to 13.1% year on year from 11.9% in March, pointing to elevated price pressures.
South Africa’s central bank last week increased its main lending rate by the largest margin in more than six years as it stepped up efforts to fight inflation.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the All-share index ended up 2.8% and the Top-40 index 3.0% higher, mirroring gains in global equity markets.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was flat, with the yield at 9.775%.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Alexander Winning)
