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Johannesburg - The rand was little changed at midday on Thursday as local data failed to move the market ahead of central bank announcements and US nonfarm payroll figures out later this week.
“This morning we had the PMI figures come out better than expected which is positive for growth‚ but the market didn’t really react‚” said Ockert van Niekerk‚ head of trading at PSG.
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso purchasing managers’ index (PMI) added 1.2 points to 50.5 in April after declining to 49.3 in March‚ data on Thursday showed. The improvement was largely attributable to the index’s two largest-weighted sub-components‚ the business activity and new sales orders indices.
A level below 50 suggests a contraction in activity while a reading above 50 points to expansion.
Van Niekerk said that bond yields remained at all-time lows‚ and equities were still looking good. “US nonfarm payrolls is the big one that the market is waiting for so we can expect to be quiet until then.”
The European Central Bank (ECB) will announce their interest rate decision on Thursday afternoon and is widely expected to trim by 25 basis points to help the weak eurozone economy.
“Local rates are still strong and equities are looking firm so we’re seeing just a little bit of a pullback after the hard rally we saw earlier in the week. The holiday yesterday would have also taken a bit of momentum out of the market‚” he said.
At 11:30 the rand was bid at R9.0357/$ from R9.0212 at its previous close.
The local currency was bid at R11.8942/ from its previous close of R11.8860 and was at R14.0693 against sterling from R14.0454 at its previous close.
The euro was bid at $1.3164 from $1.3178 at its previous close.
