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Johannesburg - The rand was broadly flat against the dollar on Wednesday ahead of first quarter current account data and a US Federal Reserve statement that should shed more light on the future of its ultra-loose monetary policy.
The rand was at R9.995/$ at 09:04, almost exactly in line with its New York close on Tuesday.
Besides the statement from the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC), due late in the evening, investors were reluctant to take a position ahead of current account data for the first three months of 2013.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the deficit to widen to a whopping 7.05% of gross domestic product from 6.5% at the end of 2012.
"A number of USD bears have locked in profits in recent days, which implies that market positioning is ripe for a post-FOMC rally for the USD, which would be particularly negative for commodity and emerging market currencies such as the South African rand," Barclays Capital said in a note.
Government bonds weakened slightly, with the yield on the benchmark 2026 issue climbing 6 basis points to 8.08%. The yield on the 2015 issue gained 4 basis points to 6.29%.
The rand was at R9.995/$ at 09:04, almost exactly in line with its New York close on Tuesday.
Besides the statement from the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC), due late in the evening, investors were reluctant to take a position ahead of current account data for the first three months of 2013.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the deficit to widen to a whopping 7.05% of gross domestic product from 6.5% at the end of 2012.
"A number of USD bears have locked in profits in recent days, which implies that market positioning is ripe for a post-FOMC rally for the USD, which would be particularly negative for commodity and emerging market currencies such as the South African rand," Barclays Capital said in a note.
Government bonds weakened slightly, with the yield on the benchmark 2026 issue climbing 6 basis points to 8.08%. The yield on the 2015 issue gained 4 basis points to 6.29%.
