The South African rand firmed against the dollar in Wednesday's trading session as the country's markets shrugged off mixed domestic economic signals released by the statistics agency. At 1332 GMT, the rand traded at 16.3150 against the dollar, about 0.6% firmer than Tuesday's close, hovering around its strongest level since August 2022. The dollar was flat against a basket of currencies as investors awaited US President Donald Trump’s speech at Davos, after his tariff threats triggered a broad selloff in US assets. South African inflation rose slightly in December, as expected, but analysts said they still expected the central bank to deliver several interest rate cuts this year as price pressures remain contained.
