* Rand seen trading within ranges
* 7.32 per dlr could be a lucky break
JOHANNESBURG, March 13 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand
firmed against the dollar with other commodity currencies on
Tuesday as risk sentiment was lifted by signs of improvement in
the world’s biggest economy.
The rand was trading at 7.5215 to the dollar at
0651 GMT, 0.33 percent firmer than Monday’s New York close of
7.55.
The U.S. Fed policy announcement will be watched closely by
traders for any signals of further quantitative easing, but the
Fed is unlikely offer any hints on new stimulus on the back of
positive economic data already seen.
“The rand is slightly stronger on the day, basically on the
back of better commodity prices, a little bit of support on the
equity space,” said Brigid Taylor, Head of Institutional Sales
at Nedbank.
“It looks as though the global growth outlook is starting to
improve slightly and therefore data is quite important, it seems
unlikely that we will see QE3 which will keep the rand range
bound,” she said.
The National Treasury is due to hold its auction at 0900
GMT, offering 2.1 billion rand worth of its 2017, 2021
and 2036 bonds.
Yields on both the two main benchmark government bonds were
down two basis points, with the 2015 yield at 6.66
percent and that on the 2026 note at 8.28 percent.
Stocks opened higher, with the JSE’s blue-chip Top-40
up 0.53 percent shortly after the 0700 GMT start of
trade.
(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba; editing by David Dolan)
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