JOHANNESBURG, Oct 25 (Reuters) – The South African rand opened slightly stronger on Monday, supported by higher precious metals prices and erasing some of Friday’s losses.
At 0624 GMT, the rand ZAR=D3 traded at 14.7950 against the dollar, around 0.2% firmer than its previous close.
Major South African exports gold XAU= and platinum XPT= were up 0.3%, lifted by a weaker dollar .DXY as investors assessed how the U.S. Federal Reserve could respond to inflationary pressures. GOL/
Higher precious metals prices have helped cushion the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic by providing Africa’s most industrialised nation with bumper tax receipts.
Domestic data releases this week include the central bank’s leading indicator ZALEAD=ECI on Tuesday, the producer price index ZAPPIY=ECI on Thursday, as well as budget ZABUDM=ECI and trade ZATBAL=ECI numbers on Friday.
Next week, attention will shift to a municipal election on Monday that will be a barometer of support for the governing African National Congress and the National Treasury’s medium-term budget policy statement on Thursday.
The yield on the government’s 2030 bond ZAR2030= was at 9.585%, unchanged from its closing level on Friday.
