South African rand flat as investors await Fed minutes

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand was flat on Tuesday, as investors awaited minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting in December for clues on its interest rate path for 2023.

At 1538 GMT, the rand traded at 16.9850 against the dollar, little changed from its previous close of 16.9775.

The minutes of the Fed’s December policymaking meeting are due to be released on Wednesday.

The risk-sensitive rand had a volatile 2022 as domestic factors such as power cuts, port strikes and political turmoil weighed on the currency, in addition to economic and geopolitical events elsewhere.

The rand is highly susceptible to global drivers such as U.S. monetary policy.

On the stock market, the Top-40 and the broader all-share indexes ended around 2% higher, mostly due to gains in the industrial index.

The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was stronger in afternoon deals, with the yield down 11 basis points to 10.075%.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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