JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand firmed on Monday, holding onto gains from last week in the absence of any major domestic economic releases.
At 1522 GMT, the rand traded at 18.6750 against the dollar, about 0.3% stronger than its previous close.
The dollar index was last trading up almost 0.2% against a basket of currencies, as investors waited for U.S.
inflation data on Tuesday which could influence the Federal Reserve’s path of interest rates.
“We expect the Rand to consolidate in an R18.60/18.85 trading range in the short term as it tracks international moves,” said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.
The rand was propped up to an extent by a surge in gold prices last week, which held steady on Monday.
South Africa’s gold, mining and manufacturing production figures for January will be released later this week.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index closed 0.26% lower while the broader all-share was down 0.32%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally stronger, with the yield down 0.5 basis point to 10.105%.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Jamie Freed, William Maclean)
