The rand was little changed on Thursday morning but remained vulnerable to renewed strength in the dollar that has been evident since Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election last week. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against the basket of currencies, on Wednesday rose to its best level since 2003, while the rand weakened to R14.38/$. The wild price swings are probably related to next week’s meeting of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee. Governor Lesetja Kganyago has said previously that SA could be close to the end of the rate-hiking cycle. As recently as last week, the rand was at R13.18 before reversing course following Trump’s victory. The weaker rand poses a potential threat to the country’s inflation outlook, which has been slowing since peaking at 7% earlier this year. However, for short-term trades, markets are likely take guidance from US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, who is due to address the Congress later in the day. "T...
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