Money SA economy
The rand remained steadfast against the majors on Friday, showing resilience amid a rampant dollar.
At 8.57am the rand was bid at R7.65 to the dollar, R10.31 to the euro and R11.78 to the pound. The euro was bid at $1.3469 from $1.3466 previously.
A local currency trader said: "We saw a big move on the majors. The dollar is strong everywhere, except against the mighty rand. Euro/rand is puzzling, but the pound took a beating overnight."
RMB analysts noted in their morning report that the Fed had been hinting at it for a while but few expected that last night's hike of the discount rate would come so soon.
"They have been quick to argue that this increase in their emergency funding rate is just a normalisation of policy, and does not signal that a rise in their main Fed funds rate is any nearer," RMB analysts John Cairns and Nema Ramkhelawan said.
"Nevertheless, this is a shot across the market's bows showing that the Fed is either more optimistic on growth or more worried about inflation than thought.”
