JOHANNESBURG, March 13 (Reuters) - The South African
rand firmed in early trade on Monday, as the dollar fell sharply
on expectations that the largest U.S. bank failure since the
2008 financial crisis would prompt the Federal Reserve to slow
the pace of its interest rate hikes.
At 0635 GMT, the rand traded at 18.1875 against the dollar , about 0.8% firmer than its previous close.
The dollar was down 0.3% against a basket of global
currencies , as investors speculated the Fed would no
longer raise rates by 50 basis points this month after the
sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank .
Investors will scrutinise Tuesday's U.S. inflation data to
predict how hawkish the central bank will be.
The rand is likely to draw cues from dollar moves as there
are no major South African economic data expected on Monday.
The government's benchmark 2030 bond also gained
in early deals, with the yield down 10 basis points to 10.055%.
In company results, South African lender Absa Group reported a 13% rise in full-year profit on Monday, driven by a
rebound in economic activity as the effects of the COVID-19
pandemic waned.
Mobile operator MTN Group reported a 16.9% rise in
full-year earnings, but revised the medium-term profit margin
target range for its South African business down due to power
outages.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
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