Rand Continues To Appreciate, Erasing Weekly Loss

Spot USD/ZAR has now given away all of its weekly gain as the South African Rand tops the EMEA pile today, despite little in the way of reassuring domestic news. The Fed's monetary policy decision provides the focal point today, but participants interested in local matters will also keep an eye on the Cabinet's strategy meeting.

• The pair last deals at ZAR17.2000, down ~2,080 pips on the session. The general technical picture outlined earlier remains in effect, with bears looking for a continued sell-off towards Jan 12 low of ZAR16.6950.
• The commodity space remains under pressure. The composite BBG Commodity Index has shed ~1.1% so far, albeit the precious metals subindex sits just ~0.1% below neutral levels, with gold little changed.
• South Africa's 10-year breakeven inflation rate has extended its downward move to a fresh one-year low of 5.80% and sits just above there at typing.