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Rand hits new highs after Fed comments

Johannesburg - The rand scaled new 2014 peaks on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session after the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve suggesting policymakers will be more cautious about raising interest rates than markets had thought.

The minutes of the US Fed's March meeting showed officials fretted that investors would overreact to policymakers' latest views on interest rates that appeared to map out a more aggressive cycle of rate hikes than was actually anticipated.

At 09:20, the rand was at 10.36/dlr, slightly firmer from Wednesday's New York close of 10.3830 and its highest level since December 27.

Investors will also watch February mining and manufacturing data on Thursday. The former is expected to highlight the impact of a damaging strike in the platinum sector.

Government bonds gained, with yields for the benchmark 2026 paper down seven basis points to 8.280% and the 2015 note 5.5 basis points lower to 6.66%.
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Rand - Dollar
19.29
-0.7%
Rand - Pound
23.87
-1.1%
Rand - Euro
20.58
-1.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.38
-1.1%
Rand - Yen
0.12
-1.2%
Platinum
943.50
+0.0%
Palladium
1,034.50
-0.1%
Gold
2,391.84
+0.0%
Silver
28.68
+0.0%
Brent Crude
87.29
+0.2%
Top 40
67,314
+0.2%
All Share
73,364
+0.1%
Resource 10
63,285
-0.0%
Industrial 25
98,701
+0.3%
Financial 15
15,499
+0.1%
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