JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand weakened slightly against the dollar on Thursday and remained vulnerable ahead of the release of globally watched US jobs data later this week.
The rand was at 9.870 to the dollar at 0604 GMT, down 0.2 percent from its close in New York on Wednesday.
Stronger-than-expected US GDP numbers on Wednesday put the rand on the back foot, despite local data showing that South Africa's trade deficit narrowed in June.
However, the dollar weakened after a US Federal Reserve policy meeting, in which the central bank made no mention of when it might start tapering bond purchases that have also helped boost emerging market assets.
On Wednesday, better-than-expected Chinese factory data also helped contain losses further losses for the rand, but analysts said it could breach the 10-to-the-dollar level if US non-farm payrolls figures are strong.
"This morning's encouraging Chinese manufacturing data should curb extended rand weakness today, but a strong non-farm payrolls print tomorrow afternoon could ensure that the rand weakens to double-digit territory against the dollar before the end of the week," Absa Capital analysts wrote in a note.
The yield on the 2026 government bond edged lower, falling 2 basis points to 8.15 percent, while that on the 2015 paper declined 5.5 basis points to 6.125 percent.
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