Rand strengthens as dollar heads into weaker territory ahead of Fed minutes
The rand had firmed more than 1% to the dollar by Wednesday afternoon, as the latter lost ground ahead of the release of the US Federal Reserve’s federal open market committee minutes later in the day. The minutes will provide further clues as to expected rate hikes later this year, and next, with the market already pricing in a rise in December. "A December rate hike now appears very likely — and is 98.6% priced in according to CME Group — but beyond that, a significant amount of uncertainty remains," said Oanda trader Craig Erlam. Higher commodity prices also supported the rand, with gold gaining 0.25% to $1,290.92 an ounce. The dollar has reversed course against the euro this week, after firming to $1,1708 last week, following renewed indications the Fed might balk at increasing rates at a faster pace next year. Chicago Fed president Charles Evans sounded dovish when saying the Fed should deliver 2% inflation in a symmetric way, meaning that if it ran below that for a time then t...
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