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Johannesburg - The rand and bonds opened weaker on Wednesday
against the dollar after a release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes
disappointed investors betting on further monetary easing for the world’s biggest
economy.
The rand was little changed against the greenback at 06:06
GMT, trading at R7.74 from New York’s close of R7.7450.
“I think the big story of the night is the FOMC, they were
slightly less dovish and more hawkish than everyone actually expected, which
put the dollar on the front foot,” said Lee Naisbitt, a trader at Rand Merchant
Bank.
“For now R7.77 is first resistance through to R7.82;
obviously we got the worry that we have non-farm payrolls on Friday being a
holiday as well - we are going to have very thin market conditions, we could
come in on Tuesday considerably higher.”
Traders will watch closely the March ADP employment report
in the United States, which could shed some light on the US non-farm payrolls
due for release at the end of the week.
With little trading expected ahead of the four-day Easter
holiday starting on Friday, the rand could firm when traders return to their
desks next week should the unemployment figures show an improvement.
Bond yields rose 5.5 basis points each, with the yield on
the 2015 issue up to 6.780% and that on the 2026 issue to 8.485%.
On the bourse, the JSE’s blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] March futures contract was down over half a percent before the 07:00 GMT start of trade, pointing to a negative start.
