Rand gains are still stubborn, and dollar data is still important

The rand is still struggling to manage a break below R18.00. Poor local infrastructure and concerns over South Africa’s “Russian Ties” keep investors from flooding into our already high-yielding bonds. This week’s higher-than-expected inflation print and the Fed talking a big game has led to economists excepting another 2 x 25bps by the MPC this year to accommodate inflation and the Fed hiking cycle. That said, we close the week slightly softer on the day, around R18.10, after another attempt at the R18.00 big figure yesterday. The dollar seems to still be favouring moves that are not beneficial for the greenback, with markets still concerned over the robustness of the US economy and what looks like an unavoidable recession in the world's largest economy. The dollar index is holding ground around 102.00, with the euro ending our local session at 1.0975.

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