Johannesburg - The rand softened on Tuesday, with emerging assets struggling for clear direction as risk demand eased ahead of a speech before Congress by US President Donald Trump.
At 5pm, the rand was bid at R13.0458 to the dollar, 13.17c weaker than at the same time on Monday, as investor jitters over Trump’s fiscal plan again dominated sentiment and sapped the rand’s recent momentum, pushing the unit to a third session of losses.
“In addition to Trump’s speech, Fed policymakers Williams and Bullard are scheduled to speak; but like all of us, they and the dollar are at the mercy of Trumponomics,” Rand Merchant Bank analyst, Isaah Mhlanga, said in a note.
Locally, trade data for January showed the balance swinging to a deficit of more than R10.8 billion.