Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The rand was little changed overnight against
the dollar on Wednesday, with traders taking few risks the day ahead of a local
monetary policy decision expected to set the tone for interest rates for the
year.
The rand was trading at R7.6185 to the dollar at 07:08 GMT,
0.1% weaker than Tuesday's New York close of R7.6075.
Economists surveyed by Reuters see the repo rate unchanged
at Thursday's meeting. The benchmark has been kept at a historical low of 5.5%
to bolster economic growth since the end of 2010.
Apart from power utility Eskom's auction of R200m of its
2026 and 2022 bonds at 09:00 GMT, little action is expected out of local
markets.
"Eskom will provide some excitement today with its
small issue of R200m across the ES23/E26 bonds," Rand Merchant Bank said
in note. "With MPC looming, we don't expect too much activity for the rest
of the trading day."
Yields on the two main benchmark government bonds were up
just one basis point, with that on the three-year bond at 6.80% and that on the
14-year note at 8.44%.
The stock market opened a shade weaker, with the blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index down 0.24% shortly after the 07:00 GMT start of trade.
