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Rand softer as post-MPC rally peters out

Johannesburg - The rand looked wobbly against the dollar on Tuesday, with most of the euphoria brought on by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB)'s hiking of interest rates last week giving way to renewed worries over the global economic outlook.

Stocks were set to open mostly flat at 09:00, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index adding just 0.17%.

At 08:42 the rand was down 0.32% at R15.9800/$ compared with Monday's close.

The local unit had rallied to as high as 15.8500 on Monday, it strongest in more than three weeks, after the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) raised the benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points last Thursday to try and curb inflation.

READ: Sarb hikes interest rate by 50bps

Analysts said the rand-positive impact of the hike, as well as the Bank of Japan's rate cut which boosted high-yielding assets, had largely worn off.

"Wall Street has set the tone, closing sideways, with gains restricted by the renewed fall in the oil price," Rand Merchant Bank analyst John Cairns said.

"Rand outperformance on last week's SARB hike has also ceased, leaving the local unit to reflect the global malaise."

In fixed income, however, government bonds held their ground, with the yield for the instrument maturing in 2026 down 5.5 basis points at 9.29%.

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Rand - Dollar
18.90
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.86
+0.2%
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