Rand keeps steady after Nene returns in major Cabinet shake-up

The rand was largely steady on Tuesday morning‚ a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa revamped his Cabinet‚ which he hoped would steer the country in the right direction.

Nhlanhla Nene was reappointed as finance minister‚ in a move that is likely to promote integrity at the Treasury‚ thus pleasing the markets.

In 2015‚ then-president Jacob Zuma unceremoniously removed Nene from the finance position‚ causing the rand and local bonds to lose substantial value.

North-West University School of Business and Governance economist Raymond Parsons said the latest Cabinet changes were a "potentially positive development‚ which must now demonstrate that [the government] can implement the message of economic renewal".

But the rand showed little reaction to the news‚ suggesting partly that news of Cabinet changes could have been discounted.

The local currency has had a terrific run in the past few weeks‚ making it vulnerable to short-term pullbacks.

Nene replaced Malusi Gigaba‚ who is heading back to Home Affairs after a brief stint at the Treasury.

With the Cabinet reshuffle now out of the way‚ market focus is likely to turn to the dollar‚ which has been inconsistent and volatile.

New US Federal Reserve chairperson Jerome Powell is scheduled to make an official address for the first time since he officially assumed the position of the most influential central bank in the world.

At 9:42am‚ the rand was at R11.5729 to the dollar from R11.5561‚ R14.2749 to the euro from R14.2349 and at R16.1809 to the pound from R16.1439.

The euro was at $1.2234 from $1.2318.