Rand up but faces pressure from strong dollar

The rand firmed early on Thursday in a rebound from the previous day’s sell off, even though pressure from a stronger dollar lingered amid increased expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy. Photographer: Nadine Hutton/Bloomberg

The rand firmed early on Thursday in a rebound from the previous day’s sell off, even though pressure from a stronger dollar lingered amid increased expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy. Photographer: Nadine Hutton/Bloomberg

Published Sep 30, 2021

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THE rand firmed early on Thursday in a rebound from the previous day’s sell off, even though pressure from a stronger dollar lingered amid increased expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy.

At 0615 GMT, the local currency traded at 15.1000 against the dollar, 0.5 percent firmer than its previous close.

The rand fell to its weakest since August 23 on Wednesday as the US dollar strengthened amid expectations for a tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus from November and a possible interest rate hike in late 2022.

The US dollar index hovered near a one year high on Thursday.

Focus on the day is also on a flurry of domestic economic data releases, including credit numbers, which showed private sector credit rose by 1.12 percent year-on-year in August.

Producer price inflation data and trade figures are due later in the day.

REUTERS