Rand weaker as markets sit on the sidelines ahead of Fed’s policy meeting
The rand was weaker against the dollar, which traded cautiously ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, which starts on Tuesday. Market participants expect that it is unlikely the Fed will increase interest rates at the meeting, but will rather inform the pace of the economy’s growth and the likelihood of the next interest-rate increase. The dollar was 0.2% weaker against a basket of major currencies. Rand Merchant Bank analyst Michelle Wohlberg said with the Fed commencing its two-day meeting, markets were expected to "sit on the sidelines" until the statement on Wednesday. "The US central bank is expected to make no changes to policy, but investors and economists will be parsing the statement for clues on how officials plan to proceed in reducing the bank’s massive portfolio," she said. At 11.30am, the rand was at R13.027 to the dollar from R12.9624, at R15.1795 to the euro from R15.0882 and at R16.9783 to the pound from R16.8847. The euro was at $1.1651 from $1.1641.
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