Johannesburg - South Africa's rand steadied in early trade on Monday, but looked vulnerable to a stronger dollar on bets that US President-elect Donald Trump's administration would adopt expansionary fiscal policies that will lead to higher interest rises.
At 06h45 GMT, the rand traded at 14.4500 per dollar, not far off from its close of 14.4700 on Friday.
As expectations grow that the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates faster than expected under Trump's reflationary policies, markets have moved towards US-dollar based assets at the expense of emerging nations.
“Essentially the currency is still at the mercy of global forces and this strong dollar trend that has prevailed since Donald Trump was elected,” Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler said in a note.
Locally, the South African Reserve Bank announces its interest rates decision on Thursday.
Stocks were set to open flat at 07h00 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index up 0.02 percent.
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 flat at 8.975 percent.
REUTERS