South African rand stable, focus on US jobs data
The South African rand was stable in early trade on Friday, as markets looked to United States jobs data for hints on the depth of an expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this month."Markets remain on edge as traders await today's key US non-farm payrolls and unemployment data, which is likely to dictate the upcoming [Federal Reserve] monetary policy decisions," Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, said.
"Analysts are also still leaning toward a soft landing for the US economy which is seeing [emerging market] currencies like the rand trade firmer over the last few days," he added.
Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes cues from US monetary policy and other global drivers in addition to domestic factors.
Local central bank data on Friday showed that South Africa's net foreign reserves rose to US$60.141 billion at the end of August from US$59.165 billion in July.
Early last week Friday, on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index was down about 0.86% in early trade.
South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond hit its strongest level in almost three years in early deals on Friday, as the yield slipped two basis points to 8.985%.
-REUTERS-