Johannesburg — The South African rand was little changed in early trade on Wednesday after a steep fall the previous day, with global market attention firmly pinned on U.S. inflation figures due later in the day.
At 0545 GMT the rand traded at 18.6425 against the U.S. currency, not far from its previous close of 18.6375.
The risk-sensitive rand lost more than 1.6% against the greenback on Tuesday, as caution built ahead of Wednesday’s U.S. Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) print scheduled for 1230 GMT.
The CPI numbers are expected to set the tone for global markets as investors will scrutinise them for clues about the Federal Reserve’s future monetary policy decisions.
The Fed has been on a 15-month rate-hiking cycle but signalled a possible pause at its last policy meeting.
Economists expect the headline CPI to hold steady at an annual 5% and core CPI to moderate very slightly to 5.5%, though anything stickier could confound bets interest rates will fall.
Among local drivers, South Africa’s central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago will from 0900 GMT deliver a lecture on the topic: “Challenges facing the global economy: A South African Perspective”.
*Tannur Anders, Editing: Alexander Winning – Reuters
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