Rand steady as dollar pauses on hawkish US Fed minutes
Rand shows little reaction to the Fed's further rate hikes nor sharply lower SA mining production numbers in August
The rand was largely unchanged on Thursday afternoon as the dollar continued to consolidate around $1.15 to the euro ahead of expected further interest-rate hikes in the US. The market has priced in another hike in December, with three more increases expected in 2019, which would take rates in the US to a level slightly above neutral. Neutral is the level of interest rates judged to be neither accommodative nor punitive to the economy. The dollar rose to its best level in two weeks on Wednesday, as the US Federal Reserve signaled that the strong economy continues to justify additional interest-rate increases, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said the Fed minutes re-affirmed the widely held opinion at the US central bank that interest rates have further to rise, including another hike this year. “Why this came as such a surprise is something of a mystery as the minutes didn’t appear to deviate from the message after the meeting when the central bank raised inte...
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