Rand gets reprieve as euro strengthens ahead of ECB policy announcement
The rand was relatively calmer on Thursday morning, strengthening against the dollar, as markets looked to the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting that could set the near-term direction for currency trading. The ECB is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it concludes its policy meeting in the afternoon, but could signal a timeframe to exit its unconventional monetary policy stimulus, known as quantitative easing. The decision could boost the euro at the expense of the dollar, which provided a reprieve to the rand. The local currency has been under considerable pressure over recent weeks. It has lost about 15% of its value against the dollar since late February, due to a combination of factors including bouts of global risk-off trade and expectations of higher interest rates in the US. As expected, the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday night raised rates by 25 basis points for the second time in 2018, and lifted its forecast for a total of four increases by the end o...
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