Rand slips

JOHANNESBURG. — The rand slipped yesterday morning as the dollar rebounded from its steepest falls in weeks after US president-elect Donald Trump talked down the greenback.

But Rand Merchant Bank currency strategist John Cairns said in a note that the ability of the president to affect the value of the dollar was limited and “in our view, the risk is still biased for a stronger rather than weaker dollar”.

“Nevertheless, the rand takes what it can get and overnight dollar weakness has helped USD/ ZAR to move lower (stronger).”

The local currency rallied up to 13,4138 to the dollar before pulling back to 13,51. The stronger rand helps to rein in inflation, which is expected to have moderated to 6,5 percent in December on an annualised basis, from 6,6 percent in November.

Statistics SA was expected to release its updated figures later yesterday morning while the US was also expected to release its own inflation data in the afternoon. US inflation is expected to have accelerated to an annual 2,1 percent in December from 1,7 percent in November.

“The expectation is that SA’s CPI (consumer price index) will start to flatten out and ... retreat below the 6 percent target in the next few months, which (means we) can see some interest rate cuts in the second half of the year,” TreasuryOne dealer Andre Botha said. — BDlive.