JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand firmed against the dollar on Tuesday, as markets looked to U.S. consumer inflation data due on Wednesday for clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.
At 1519 GMT, the rand traded at 18.9225 against the dollar, about 0.5% stronger than its previous close.
The rand hit a nine-month low on Monday before staging a recovery amid an uncertain outlook for further interest rate cuts by the Fed.
Recent U.S. data has underscored the strength of the economy, leading traders to scale back bets for 2025 rate cuts.
Data on Tuesday showed U.S. producer prices rose less than expected in December as higher costs for goods were partially offset by stable services prices.
Investor focus will now turn towards U.S. consumer price index data due on Wednesday.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index closed 0.2% higher.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger, with the yield down 1.5 basis points at 9.305%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Bhargav Acharya. Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Mark Potter)
