The South African Rand is holding steady against the Pound and US Dollar as economists await the South African Reserve Banks decision on interest rates.
The markets are widely expecting the Reserve Bank to keep its benchmark repo rate at a four decade low of 5%, they will also keep a close eye on the speech due to be made by Bank governor Gill Marcus that begins at 15:00pm this afternoon to gauge whether her concerns have shifted about a rise in inflation pressures and anaemic growth.
“There is little news flow that can provide strong direction to the rand today. It is therefore very likely to drift in the R9.80 to R9.95 range,” Rand Merchant Bank analyst Theuns de Wet said in a note.
“Event risk flows from Sarb’s statement this afternoon. However, given that we don’t forecast any change in the policy stance, we don’t expect it to move the market significantly,” he said.
The Rand remains vulnerable to the outcome of the second day of US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony to Congress. Yesterday he said that the Federal Open Market Committee wants to assure that the U.S. economy and labour markets have sufficient momentum before reducing asset purchases.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.8522 <
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 14.9407 <
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 12.9073 <
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.0134 <
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 7.7479 >
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.4413 <
(Correct as of 12:25 GMT)
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