Market News

BY Sfundo Parakozov

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 17 (Reuters) – The South African rand firmed against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Monday as investors looked ahead to inflation data later this week for clues on the health of Africa’s largest economy.

• At 0645 GMT the rand traded at 16.1425 against the dollar, up roughly 0.4% from its previous close.
• Statistics South Africa is due to release July inflation data on Wednesday, with analysts polled by Reuters expecting a cooler reading of 4.5%.
• Headline inflation accelerated to a two-year high of 5.0% in June from 4.5% in May, driven mainly by transport costs.
• Economists at Nedbank said they expected it to slow to 4.3%, citing lower transport costs resulting from a decline in fuel prices.
• The U.S. dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies on Monday, while gold prices edged higher, supported by recent softer-than-expected U.S. economic data that has dampened expectations of a U.S. interest rate increase next month.
• South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was little changed in early deals, as the yield fell half a basis point to 8.425%.