Trending 
The South African rand held firm in early trade on Monday, with investors closely watching upcoming inflation figures expected to influence the central bank’s interest rate outlook.
At 07:40 GMT, the rand was trading at 17.7075 to the dollar, unchanged from Friday’s close.
Statistics South Africa is set to release June inflation data on Wednesday. According to a Reuters poll, analysts anticipate a slight increase in annual consumer inflation to 3.0% from May’s 2.8%, still comfortably within the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) target range of 3% to 6%.
“A softer print could open the door for one last rate cut this year, while a firmer number would push that possibility further out,” said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.
The SARB’s next interest rate decision is due on July 31. At its previous meeting in May, the central bank cut its repo rate by 25 basis points following several months of inflation remaining below the lower end of its target range.
Meanwhile, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index rose around 0.4% in early trading. The yield on the benchmark 2035 government bond was stable at 9.935%
