The South African rand made a slight advance in early trade on Thursday, as markets looked ahead to upcoming economic data releases from the central bank and the national statistics agency.
By 0610 GMT, the rand was trading at 17.72 against the U.S. dollar, showing a marginal increase of 0.1% from the previous day’s close.
At 0800 GMT, the South African Reserve Bank is expected to publish its quarterly bulletin, offering updates on foreign direct investment and portfolio flows for the first quarter of the year.
Shortly after, at 0930 GMT, Statistics South Africa will release May’s Producer Price Index (PPI) figures. These numbers are expected to provide a clearer picture of inflationary trends in the country’s industrial sector.
Forecasts suggest that producer inflation may have risen to 0.7% year-on-year in May, compared to 0.5% in April. Economists at Nedbank project a slightly higher increase of 0.8%, driven mainly by rising food prices. However, they noted in a research note that lower fuel costs helped ease some of the overall upward pressure on prices.
In the bond market, South Africa’s 2035 benchmark government bond showed a slight decline in early trading, with the yield increasing by 1 basis point to 9.935%.