South African Rand Hits 1-week High Against US Dollar After Interest Rate Report

The South African rand edged up further against the US dollar and hit a 1-week high of 6.7903 versus the US dollar as the South Africa's central bank maintained the key interest rate unchanged for a fourth straight session in New York morning trading on Thursday. The pair that closed yesterday's North American session at 6.8664, is currently trading near 6.7918.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Gill Marcus announced that the Monetary Policy Committee decided to leave the repurchase rate unchanged at 5.5 percent. The decision was in line with economists' expectations.

In an another report from the South Africa showed today that wholesale sales increased 6.6 percent year-on-year in May, faster than the 4.9 percent rise seen in April, data released by Statistics South Africa. The latest growth was the biggest since January, when sales rose 7.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, wholesale sales grew 2 percent in May. In the three months ended May, wholesale sales grew 5.6 percent from the same period a year earlier.