South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar on Thursday after the greenback slipped on rising expectations that U.S. interest rate cuts are near.
At 0802 GMT, the rand traded at 18.4175 against the dollar , near its previous close of 18.4200. The dollar index was last trading down 0.07% against a basket of currencies.
Markets are pricing in a potential U.S. rate cut as early as September, after a string of weak economic data and minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting on Wednesday acknowledged the U.S. economy appeared to be slowing and "price pressures were diminishing."
With a South African government formed and sworn in after a historic May 29 election, and few major local economic reports due in the week ahead, the rand is set to take cues from global drivers like U.S. monetary policy.
On the stock market, the Top-40 (.JTOPI), opens new tab index was up 0.5% in early trade. South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield up 2 basis points to 9.835%.
