JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand was stable early on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, uncertainty over fiscal policy and stance in the geopolitical arena weighed on U.S. markets.
The rand traded flat at 18.3750 against the dollar, as of 0649 GMT. The dollar last traded weaker against a basket of currencies.
“Tariff threats and the risk of counter-tariffs, uncertainty over fiscal policy given the mass retrenchments, and the U.S.’ stance in the geopolitical arena… appear to be weighing on U.S. markets,” said ETM Analytics in a research note.
“Without any market-moving data to trade on, these international developments will guide much of the domestic market’s direction.”
South Africa’s composite leading business cycle indicator fell 1.8% month on month in December, central bank data showed on Tuesday.
Domestic-focussed investors await January’s consumer inflation figures on Wednesday and producer inflation data for the same month on Thursday for clues on the health of Africa’s most industrialised economy.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger in early deals, with the yield down 1 basis point to 9.105%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
