The South African Rand advanced against the US Dollar on Tuesday in an attempt to extend last week’s 1.9% gain, as market players looked to South African PPI and trade balance reports along with international data in what appears to be a busy week.
Statistics South Africa is due to release the official Producer Price Index data for July at 9:30 GMT on Thursday. Producer prices probably rose at an annual rate of 3% last month, according to market consensus estimate, following a 4.8% surge in June. The latter has been the slowest year-on-year rate of increase since February 2021.
Meanwhile, South African trade balance report for July, due out at 12:00 GMT on Thursday, is expected to reveal a ZAR 0.75 billion trade surplus.
In June, South Africa registered a trade deficit of ZAR 3.54 billion, as total exports dropped 8.6% month-over-month, mostly due to lower shipments of vehicles and transport equipment, mineral products, precious metals & stones and base metals. Total imports decreased 1.6% month-over-month, mostly due to lower purchases of precious metals & stones and prepared foodstuff.
Along with local data, the Rand is likely to be affected by a host of international macro data prints, most notably US employment, core PCE inflation and personal spending figures. The latter could provide clues on future US interest rate trajectory.
As of 9:28 GMT on Tuesday USD/ZAR was losing 0.48% on the day to trade at 18.5098.
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