South Africa’s rand near six-month low as dollar rises

South Africa’s rand weakened early on Tuesday, trading near a six-month low as the dollar rose after the United States President, Donald Trump, said a meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un had made “a lot of progress.”

Trump’s comments boosted hopes of a landmark deal to end a nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula.

At 0618 GMT, the rand traded at 13.2300 per dollar, 0.6 percent weaker than its close on Monday. The unit hit a six-month low of 13.2875 on Friday.

Market focus this week is also on central bank policy meetings.

The US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee starts its two-day meeting on Tuesday, where it is anticipated to raise U.S. interest rates. The European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan’s policy meetings are also due this week.

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 rose 6.5 basis points to 9.065 per cent.