JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand fell through a series of record lows against the dollar on Monday, knocked back largely by a widening trade deficit and a gloomy review by the central bank, while stocks were flat.
The rand tumbled after the revenue agency reported a wider-than-expected trade deficit in October, while comments by the South African Reserve Bank citing the weaker currency as a key contributor to inflation as well as a major risk to the CPI forecast also weighed.
By 1652 GMT the currency traded at 14.4850 to the greenback, down 0.57 percent from Friday's close.
Domestic budget deficit data, which showed a narrower deficit of 26.548 billion rand in October, compared with a 29.296 billion rand for the same month in 2014/15 had earlier offered some temporary relief.
Lower commodity prices due to weaker demand from China, the largest importer of commodities, and drought are putting pressure on exports from Africa's most industrialised economy.
"There is still little to suggest that the weaker rand is having the desired effect of stimulating domestic exports," BNP Paribas securities South Africa economist Jeffrey Schultz said.
"A suppressed domestic demand outlook should help to keep a lid on South Africa's import growth over the medium-term in spite of the fact that the currency looks likely to remain at historically weak levels," Schultz said.
On the fixed-income market, yields on government bonds were mostly up, with the benchmark issue due in 2026 adding 1 basis point to 8.585 percent.
On the bourse, the blue-chip JSE Top-40 index was flat at 46,329 points and the broader All-share index fell 0.06 percent to 51,607 points.
Alexander Forbes fell to a record low of 13.82 percent to 6.55 rand after reporting flat earnings that were below expectations.
"The results were marginally below expectations and the market tends to be a bit harsh when companies don't meet expectations," PSG Wealth analyst Adrian Cloete said.
Illovo Sugar slipped 0.62 percent to 16.10 rand after posting a 60 percent drop half-year profits while flagging cost cuts of up to 1.2 billion rand over the next two years.
More than 315 million shares changed hands, well above last year's daily average of 187 million.
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