Currencies yesterday…

The rand was steady near seven-month lows against the dollar yesterday ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which may provide hints on the pace of future US interest rate hikes.

Dealers said some consolidation was to be expected after the rand fell about 45 over the past 10 days, though the currency was also dancing to the tune of the euro, the currency of SA's main trading partner.

By 2pm, the rand was trading at R6,5450 against the dollar, little changed on its late-Monday levels, though several cents weaker on its best levels of the session. At one point during Monday's session it hit R6,5780 to the dollar, its weakest level against the greenback since October 14 last year.

On hourly charts it looks like rand resistance at R6,45 to the dollar with R6,57 the key level on the top side.

The dollar traded flat against the euro yesterday as minutes on US inflation, baffling traders as to the currency's near term direction.

The dollar initially fell against the euro immediately after the release of the Fed minutes, but then traded back up. In late afternoon trade, the euro traded flat at $1,2573, but it rose as high as $1,2589 after the minutes.