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Johannesburg – The rand strengthened just before noon on Thursday after better-than-expected factory inflation numbers.
“The local currency has firmed since yesterday after the consumer inflation numbers disappointed. Today’s PPI numbers countered some of the negativity‚” said Ockert van Niekerk‚ director and head of dealing at PSG Prime.
At 11:47‚ the rand was bid at R8.6922/$ from Wednesday’s close of R8.7755. It was bid at R11.3121/€ from its previous close of R11.3750 and at R14.0166 against sterling from R14.0618 before.
The euro was bid at $1.3014 from Wednesday’s close of $1.2964.
“Everybody is waiting to see what happens later in the medium-term budget policy statement. Investors are hoping it will give an indication of what will be done to handle the difficulties facing the South African economy‚” Van Niekerk said.
