JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand slipped in early trade on Wednesday ahead of local inflation data, which could give domestic investors clues on the health of Africa’s most industrialised economy.
At 0600 GMT, the rand traded at 18.44 against the dollar, about 0.3% weaker than its previous close.
Trade in the South African currency has been volatile in recent sessions amid local budget woes, the return of power outages and uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
State power utility Eskom suspended rotational power cuts, known locally as loadshedding, on Wednesday.
Investors will look to the statistics agency at 0800 GMT for the release of South Africa’s January inflation figures, which will provide further clues on the central bank’s interest rate trajectory.
Economists polled by Reuters estimate inflation rose 3.3% year-on-year in January.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly weaker in early deals, with the yield up 0.5 basis point to 9.07%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Subhranshu Sahu)
