Rand continues its firmer bias on dollar weakness

The rand was firmer against the dollar at midday on Tuesday‚ albeit off its best levels reached on Monday when it traded close to its strongest level in four months.

At 11.47am‚ the rand was trading at R14.6922 to the dollar from R14.7297 at Monday’s close. It was at R16.7840 against the euro from R16.8201 previously‚ and at R20.0151 against the pound from R20.9877 previously.

The euro was at $1.1423 from a previous close of $1.1410. Nedbank CIB analysts said the rand had managed to post significant gains over the past two sessions due to some generalised dollar weakness. This has also supported commodities‚ with oil leading the way on that front.

The Wall Street Journal dollar index was recently down 0.22% at 85.72‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported. Technically a close below R14.70 to the dollar would provide extra support for the local unit‚ further supported by a lack of politically driven headlines‚ the analysts said.

The rand was likely to trade between R14.5800 and R14.8800 to the dollar‚ they said.

Data releases scheduled for Tuesday include local consumer confidence statistics‚ German consumer price index (CPI) and various UK releases.

In the US San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams and Richmond fed president Jeffrey Lacker were scheduled to speak‚ Nedbank CIB analysts said.

The dollar weakened against major currencies after the Federal Reserve slowed the expected pace of interest-rate increases this year.

– TMG Digital/BDlive