Rand rallies on local data surprise
The rand strengthened considerably against the major currencies in afternoon trade on Wednesday, after inflation data surprised the market.
Consumer price inflation increased by 4.0% year-on-year as at the end of July 2019, which was down from the 4.5% in June.
“This now marks the eighth consecutive month that year-on-year inflation was at or below the midpoint of the target band and the twenty-eighth consecutive month that inflation is below the top end of the target band,” said Luigi Marinus, portfolio manager at PPS Investments.
The median estimate of 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey was 4.3%.
The data buoyed the rand which had endured a slump of as much as 10% since the beginning of August.
Shortly after 15h00, the local unit traded at the following levels against the major currencies, namely the dollar, the British pound, and the euro:
- Dollar/Rand: R15.16 (1.32%)
- Pound/Rand: R18.42 (1.52%)
- Euro/Rand: R16.84 (1.30%)
Read the full story on: Business Tech.