The rand ended the week weaker against the dollar, with the Reserve Bank’s 10:30 rate at R16.56 on Friday 23 October. That was 0.8% weaker than the R16.43 recorded a week earlier on 16 October, and the weakest reading since 8 October, when it was R16.64.
The fall followed two weeks of gains. The rand strengthened 0.6% in the week to 16 October, when the dollar went from R16.53 to R16.43. The Reserve Bank’s rate is a weighted average of the banks’ quotes at about 10:30 SAST, and the Reserve Bank publishes it each business day. Over the past month the dollar has ranged from R16.21 on 21 September to R16.68 on 5 October.
The London price, the average of the morning and afternoon fixings, was US$4,066.05 an ounce on Thursday, Reserve Bank data show. That was 2.9% below US$4,185.55 on 16 October and 1.4% below Tuesday’s US$4,122.55. The Reserve Bank had not yet published Friday’s fixings at the time of writing.
Government bonds firmed. The yield on the R209 bond, which matures in 2036, closed at 8.745% on Thursday, against 8.84% on 16 October. The yield fell 14 basis points on Wednesday 21 October, to 8.725% from 8.865%, the day Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, and edged up 2 basis points on Thursday. Our report on the statement has the figures behind it.
Seen over a longer stretch, the dollar jumped 1.5% on 1 October, from R16.37 to R16.61, and has since eased back towards R16.4. Gold has fallen further than the rand has moved: its average price on 18 September was US$4,368 an ounce, rounded from the Reserve Bank’s US$4,367.575, so Thursday’s price is 6.9% lower. Because South African gold miners sell in dollars, the metal’s direction matters for their rand revenue.
Source: South African Reserve Bank, weighted average of the banks' daily rates at about 10:30. Chart: Rand Desk
The Reserve Bank’s policy rate stays at 7.25%, its current market rates page shows. The central bank’s next rate decision is on 19 November, its monetary policy calendar says, a day after Stats SA publishes October’s inflation. The September inflation figures put the headline rate at 4.5%.
The next outside date for the rand is the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on 27 and 28 October, according to the Fed’s calendar. The Reserve Bank publishes the day’s rates at about 10:30 SAST on each business day, and the next set is due on Monday 26 October. Daily moves in the currency are tracked on our Markets and Rand page.
