JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand was slightly weaker in early trade on Friday, giving back some recent gains as investors pondered a weak domestic outlook and uncertainty over the future of US market stimulus.
The rand was at 10.0825 against the dollar at 0700 GMT, 0.51 percent weaker from Thursday's close of 9.8403 in New York.
It sank to its weakest level since 2009 early on Tuesday, before staging a recovery that some said lacked solid underpin because the domestic outlook remains bleak.
"In general, it's been a good week for the rand but there still remains a number of headwinds and they stem from local factors and, probably most importantly, from global factors," said Adriaan du Toit, sub-Sahara Africa Strategist at Citi.
The rand also remains vulnerable as investors cut their holdings of emerging markets assets on signs the US could start winding down its bond buying programme, which has been the source of dollars funding a rally in risky but high-yielding assets.
Government bonds also declined, with the yield for the 2026 issue edging up 13 basis points to 7.775 percent and that on the 2015 paper rising 7 basis points to 6.090 percent.
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