The rand was a little weaker against the dollar on Tuesday morning but held up decently against the British pound as sterling hurt from mounting concern that Britain may leave the European Union (EU).
The domestic currency‚ which continues to be extremely volatile‚ is likely to take direction from the release of the Reserve Bank’s June Bulletin later in the morning.
The item of greatest interest is the size of the country’s current account deficit. The markets will be hoping for a contraction in the first quarter of 2016‚ signalling that the weak rand is boosting exports.
The deficit on the current account was 5.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the final quarter of 2015.
"The rand’s near-term future is uncertain in that it depends to a large extent on the direction of commodity prices and emerging market currencies‚" Stanlib Asset Management portfolio manager Paul Hansen said in a note.
At 8.57am‚ the rand was at R15.2238 to the dollar from R15.1820 at the previous close. It was at R17.1463 against the euro from R17.1371 previously‚ and at R21.5374 against the pound from R21.6185 previously.
The euro was at $1.1263‚ from $1.1290 previously. - With Claire Bisseker
- TMG Digital/BDlive
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