JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The South African rand rose on Thursday after monthly domestic producer inflation came in as expected.
At 1550 GMT, the rand was trading at 19.0400 against the US dollar, up almost 0.9% from its previous close.
The dollar was last traded 0.11% lower against a basket of other major currencies.
Data from Statistics South Africa showed producer inflation rose marginally to 4.6% year-on-year in March from 4.5% in February, in line with expectations of analysts polled by Reuters.
The central bank said this week that getting consumer inflation back to the middle of its target range would likely be a “bumpy and lengthy” path.
The South African Reserve Bank kept its key interest rate at 8.25% from May 2023 to combat price pressures.
In the stock market, the Top 40 index closed down 0.2%, while the broader stock index fell 0.25%.
Anglo American (JO:) Platinum shares fell 9.48% after BHP Group (NYSE:) offered $38.8 billion for its parent company Anglo American.