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JOHANNESBURG, July 22 (Reuters) - The South African rand was steady on Wednesday after consumer inflation came in hotter than expected, while investors looked ahead to the central bank's interest rate decision.
• At 1431 GMT, the rand traded at 16.4275 against the dollar, broadly unchanged from earlier levels.
• Annual headline consumer inflation accelerated to a two-year high of 5.0% in June from 4.5% in May, bolstering expectations that the central bank will deliver a second consecutive interest rate hike on Thursday.
• Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 4.7%.
• "Given upside risks to the inflation outlook, concerns about elevated inflation expectations, and the risk of second-round effects, we expect the South African Reserve Bank to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points," Nedbank economists said in a note.
• Separate data showed South African retail sales rose 2.3% year-on-year in May, following a revised 1.2% increase in April.
• On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last up 0.9%.
• South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond weakened sharply, as the yield rose 12 basis points to 8.665%.
(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Ros Russell)
