The rand traded at its best level against the US dollar since December 2015, following better than anticipated retail sales.<\/p>\n
According to Stats SA, retail trade sales increased by 4.1% year-on-year in February 2016.<\/p>\n
The highest annual growth rates were recorded for:<\/p>\n
The main contributors to the 4.1% increase were:<\/p>\n
Shortly after 17h00, the local unit traded at R14.56 versus the dollar, up nearly 1% on the day – its best level since 9 December last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported that better trade numbers suggest that the central bank might hike interest rates further at its next policy meeting.<\/p>\n
“The better than expected performance of February retail sales is somewhat encouraging and suggests some underlying resilience in the South African consumer,” BNP Paribas Securities economist Jeffrey Schultz said.<\/p>\n
The South African Reserve Bank raised its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 7% last month, warning that additional hikes should be expected in 2016.<\/p>\n
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