adminJohannesburg. — The rand battled to find a path yesterday, with better than expected consumer price index (CPI) figures having little effect on the on the domestic currency. “The rand is struggling to make headway from the R10,80/$ level. From the technical perspective, it looks oversold, but its medium-term fundamentals remain weak,” Bidvest Bank chief currency dealer Ion de Vleeschauwer said.
However, Mr de Vleeschauwer said the pound was stronger against the rand because of the dip in the UK unemployment rate.
At 11.52am, the rand was at R10,8367 to the dollar from its overnight close of R10,8297. Against the euro‚ the rand was at R14,6760 from R14,6793 at its previous close and was at R17,9258 against the pound from R17,8357 at Monday’s close.
The euro was at US$1,3543 from US$1,3557 at its previous close.
South Africa’s consumer price index‚ used to measure inflation‚ increased to 5,4 percent in December on an annualised basis from a 5,3 percent year-on-year increase in November‚ Statistics South Africa said yesterday.
Inflation was expected to have increased by 5,5 percent year on year‚ according to a survey of leading economists. — BDlive.
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