JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was steady on Monday after the release of a mixed bag of domestic data by the country’s central bank, revenue service agency and National Treasury, while investors also await jobs data from the world’s largest economy.
At 1355 GMT the rand traded at 17.7875 against the dollar, little changed from Friday’s close.
The dollar last traded flat against a basket of currencies as investors awaited the U.S.
ADP employment report due on Wednesday and non-farm payrolls report on Thursday, which could provide insights into the Fed’s future path for interest rate cuts.
South African Reserve Bank data earlier showed the country’s money supply growth last month was at 6.86%, up from 6.12% in April.
Credit growth for May came in at 4.98%, from 4.60% the previous month.
Nedbank economists had forecast both indicators to show declines year-on-year.
Money supply figures often give insights into consumer demand strength and influence trade balance data.
South Africa recorded a trade surplus of 21.67 billion rand ($1.22 billion) in May, less than expected by analysts polled by Reuters, revenue service figures showed on Monday.
The National Treasury also published budget balance numbers for the same month, which showed a budget deficit of 10.12 billion rand, compared with a deficit of 12.78 billion rand in the same month last year.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index last traded down 0.6%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was slightly stronger, with the yield down 1 basis points to 9.95%.
($1 = 17.7838 rand)
(Reporting by Sfundo ParakozovEditing by David Goodman, William Maclean)
