The rand was stable in early trade on Friday after a week of volatility.
At around 12pm, the rand traded at R19.02 against the dollar.
The rand was trading at R20.01 to the euro.
When you compare this to Monday midday trade, the rand is doing a lot better.
At 12pm October 9, the rand traded at R19.40 against the dollar and R20.42 against the euro.
According to Reuters, the rand was weakened on Monday due to risk aversion linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The rand was also impacted and gained some value during the week thanks to lower US Treasury yields.
US inflation rate
Adriaan Pask, CIO at PSG Wealth, noted that “the annual inflation rate in the US remained the same at 3.70% in September 2023, defying market expectations of a slight decrease to 3.60%. Data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics confirmed that a softer decline in energy prices was offset by slowing inflationary pressures in other categories, including food.”
Pask also stated that the US’s core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, slowed to 4.10% y/y, marking its lowest reading since September 2021.
As a result, US stocks had some gains on Thursday afternoon, “while the dollar index bounced back to the 106 mark as traders analysed the new inflation data,” Pask added.
“US investors appear to hold on to the hope that interest rates will not be raised in November after dovish remarks made by Federal Reserve officials earlier and the guidance provided in the FOMC minutes yesterday,” Trading Economics added.
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