The rand was relatively stable at weaker levels on Wednesday morning, taking its direction from overseas markets where the dollar stood tall against the basket of currencies, at least over the past 24 hours.Markets interpreted US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s first speech to the US Congress as leaning towards more interest-rate increases than is currently projected, sending the dollar a lot stronger.The relative strength in the dollar interpreted what had been a relentless run in the rand, driven by the positive mood towards SA following the political changes, which markets wagered would translate into better economic growth."The market is now almost solely focused on the overall global dollar picture and a rather hawkish Fed chairman Jerome Powell caused the greenback to rally against everything else," Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said in an e-mailed note.The sustained strength in the dollar could hurt the rand and SA’s inflation outlook, thus complicating the tas...
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