Johannesburg - The rand firmed against the dollar on Monday ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, with the currency also lifted by higher metals prices.
At 5pm, the rand was bid at R13.1406 to the dollar, less than a cent stronger than at the same time on Friday, extending its gains after Friday’s positive US employment data solidified a view among Wall Street’s top banks that the Fed would hike interest rates this week.
With a rate increase so broadly priced in, investors have moved on to whether the Fed will be able to sustain its pace of hikes and raise rates in June and September.
“The important question therefore is whether the pace of hiking will pick up faster than expected over the coming year or two,” Old Mutual Wealth analysts said in a note.