Market News
South African rand firms at start of data-packed week - REUTERS
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The South African rand was stronger in early trade on Monday at the start of a week filled with closely watched global and domestic economic data releases.
At 0805 GMT, the rand traded at 18.25 against the dollar , 0.4% firmer than its previous closing level.
The U.S. dollar was down marginally against a basket of global currencies.
Analysts said the rand was likely to take its direction this week from global data prints including U.S. consumer inflation data on Wednesday, and South African mining (ZAMNG=ECI), and retail sales (ZARET=ECI), figures over Tuesday and Wednesday.
The U.S. inflation reading will be scrutinised for clues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path, while the local data releases will show whether Africa's most industrialised economy gained any momentum in the middle of the year.
Oxford Economics Africa said the domestic data releases were not expected to show much improvement, with the unemployment rate seen stuck around 32%, the mining sector dealing with supply-side constraints and subdued consumer demand continuing to pressure retail.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's All-Share index (.JALSH) was little changed in early trade. One exception was Gold Fields (GFIJ.J), which dropped 2% after the company said it had agreed to acquire Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) for C$2.16 billion (about $1.57 billion).
