South Africa’s rand fell against a stronger dollar on Monday as investors anticipated a central bank announcement on monetary policy later this week.
The rand was trading at 18.2050 against the dollar at 06:35 GMT, 0.26% weaker than its previous estimate.
The dollar index, which compares the value of the dollar to six important competitors, increased by more than 0.2% to 103.20.
Although the local currency did perform a little better last week, at least versus the dollar, volatility in the rand “remains the rule of the day,” according to a research note from ETM Analytics.
The markets anticipate a rate increase of 25 basis points when the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) announces its decision on interest rates on Thursday.
Early deals saw a small improvement in the benchmark 2030 government bond, which now has a yield of 9.925% instead of 9.93%.