JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand was stable on Tuesday, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision due on Wednesday.
At 1530 GMT, the rand traded at 18.9375 against the dollar, near its previous close of 18.94.
The dollar was last trading up about 0.31% against a basket of global currencies.
Recent U.S. economic data has pointed to stubbornly high inflation, causing investors to temper their expectations of the pace and scale of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.
Like most emerging market currencies, the rand often takes its cues from global factors such as U.S.
monetary policy in addition to domestic events.
In South Africa, the focus this week will be on February inflation figures due Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters have predicted that annual inflation will inch up to 5.5%, from 5.3% in January.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index closed nearly 1% lower.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was marginally stronger, with the yield down 1.5 basis points to 10.480%.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Ros Russell)
