USD/ZAR: Rand pulls back from 1-month low ahead of US CPI data

The South African Rand pulled back from a one-month low against the US Dollar on Thursday ahead of the key US CPI inflation report as well as South African mining and manufacturing data.

Investor focus sets on the US July consumer inflation figures. Annual core CPI inflation is expected to slow to 4.7% from 4.8% in June. A reading in line with expectations or an even bigger CPI drop would add to prospects of a Federal Reserve pause.

Futures markets are pricing in an over 50% chance that the US central bank will probably not raise interest rates further by the end of the year, as inflation has moderated.

Additionally, South Africa’s mining output will be a closely watched data print, with the official June figures expected at 9:30 GMT today.

Rand traders are also expecting the June data on South African manufacturing production due to be released at 11:00 GMT by Statistics South Africa.

As of 9:03 GMT on Thursday USD/ZAR was losing 0.73% to trade at 18.8184. Yesterday the exotic Forex pair went up as high as 19.0849. The latter has been the pair’s strongest level since July 7th (19.1523).