The rand was little changed against hard currencies on Friday afternoon as markets waited for speeches from central bankers at the Jackson Hole conference in the US. Market activity has been subdued this week, ahead of comments from US Federal Reserve chairperson Janet Yellen and European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi, who are expected to speak later on Friday. "It has been one of the quietest weeks for the rand in years, but this could change when Yellen delivers her address," said Rand Merchant Bank analyst John Cairns. Markets are watching for signals that the Fed would increase interest rates, even when inflation was so low, and when the ECB would begin its balance-sheet tapering, said Cairns. Momentum SP Reid analysts said a degree of nervousness surrounded the potential sound bites that would come out of the conference. At 3.30pm‚ the rand was at R13.1781 to the dollar from R13.2002‚ at R15.5679 to the euro from R15.5743, and at R16.9184 to the pound from R16.8992....
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