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Johannesburg - The rand firmed against the dollar on
Tuesday, rebounding from 8-week lows after the greenback softened and metal
prices edged up.
The rand could see renewed pressure if Walmart's proposed
deal of a 51% purchase of local retailer Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] falls
through. A decision is due in the next two weeks.
Walmart said it could walk away from the deal if South
Africa demanded targets on using local suppliers.
The rand was trading at R6.98 to the dollar at 06:46 GMT,
from a New York close of R7.0060 on Monday. It hit an 8-week low of R7.0605 on
Monday.
"I expect range trading today ahead of a public holiday
tomorrow. It will also keep an eye on other emerging market and commodity-based
currencies," said a dealer, adding appetite towards risky trade has been
fickle.
Markets are closed on Wednesday for nationwide local
elections.
"If CPI comes out away from expectations, especially if
it's above expectations, I expect rand reaction," the dealer added.
Consumer inflation is due out at 08:00 GMT, with the market
expecting CPI to quicken to 4.4% year-on-year in April from 4.1% in March.
Government bonds were largely steady ahead of a weekly
auction whose results will be out after 09:00 GMT.
The yield on the 2015 bond R157 was down 0.5 basis points at
7.725% and that on the 2026 issue R186 was unchanged from the previous close at
8.71%.
Bonds have been propped up by foreign buying in recent weeks
but fell last week after a hawkish central bank statement.
