This Thursday, currencies move in scattered ranks. The South African rand and yuan weakened, while the pound sterling held steady and the dollar rose

The South African rand weakened in early trading on Thursday, after Federal Reserve meeting minutes released on Wednesday hinted that interest rates would remain high longer in the largest & world economy. At 0733 GMT, the rand traded at 18.3750 against the dollar, about 0.5% lower than

The Chinese yuan slid on Thursday to near its lowest level in three weeks, as the dollar strengthened after the Federal Reserve's hawkish minutes, while tensions around Taiwan also made investors nervous. On the spot market, the yuan opened at 7.2400 per dollar and was changing hands at 7.2433 at noon, 17 pips lower than the previous late

Sterling remained stable against the dollar at 1.2722, after touching a two-month high of 1.2761 the day before, after data showed that British consumer prices rose by 2.3% in annual terms in April, approaching the Bank of England's 2% target, but slowing less than markets had anticipated. The pound also remained stable against the euro, at 85.07 pence for a common currency, its highest level since February

The dollar for its part hovered near a one-week high on Thursday after its best day of the month against its main peers after the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting revealed the desire of some officials to raise interest rates. The dollar index, which The currency's track against six of its main rivals, including the euro, sterling and yen, was little changed at 104.89 after gaining 0.28% overnight