The rand swung between gains and losses before the release of data that may show South Africa’s current-account deficit narrowed in the third quarter, easing pressure on the exchange rate.
The shortfall shrank to 6% of gross domestic product from 6.5% in the previous three months, the central bank may report on Tuesday, according to the median estimate of nine economists in a Bloomberg survey.
“Most important from a currency-market perspective is the current-account result,” Bruce Donald, a strategist at Standard Bank Group in Johannesburg, said in emailed comments. “Currency-market action since late September last year tells us that participants have been questioning the sustainability of the shortfall.”
The rand was little changed at 10.1727 per dollar by 10:34 am on Monday in Johannesburg, after gaining as much as 0.2% and retreating 0.5%. Yields on benchmark bonds due December 2026 rose one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 8.33%.
Foreign investors sold a net R156-million ($15-million) of South African bonds on November 29, bringing outflows last month to R14.8-billion, the most in a month since September 2011. – Bloomberg