JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was steady on Wednesday, a day ahead of the central bank’s interest rate decision.
At 1329 GMT, the rand traded at 17.9375 against the dollar, little changed from Tuesday’s closing level.
The U.S. dollar last traded about 0.3% firmer against a basket of currencies as markets waited for minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting and economic data for insights on the U.S. interest rate outlook.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will announce its monetary policy decision at around 1300 GMT on Thursday.
The majority of economists polled by Reuters expect the bank to trim its main lending rate by 25 basis points, though a significant minority think the rate could be left unchanged.
Inflation is currently below the central bank’s target range, though policymakers have stressed risks from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and domestic politics.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index was up 0.2%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger, with the yield down 3.5 basis points to 8.805%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning and Rachna Uppal)
