JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand firmed on Monday against the dollar after U.S. jobs data at the end of last week came in weaker than expected, giving the currency a reprieve at the beginning of a week that sees the release of a slew of domestic economic data.
The rand had fallen to a 5-week low after Thursday's credit rating downgrade by Moody's that cited poor economic prospects for Africa's most advanced economy.
By 0627 the unit edged 0.29 percent firmer to 11.2550 per dollar after closing at 11.2575 in New York.
U.S. employers added 214,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, missing forecasts for 231,000, leading to slight cooling of investor confidence in the U.S. economy that had seen the dollar reach a 4-year high against a basket of major currencies.
"The slight disappointment was enough to significantly dampen global markets' exuberance," John Cairns of Rand Merchant Bank said in market note.
Cairns warned that the previous week's volatility - that saw the rand fall as far as 11.3600 - may continue this week.
On Tuesday Statistics South Africa releases monthly manufacturing output data at 0900 GMT followed by mining output data on Thursday.
Bonds tracked the rand firmer, with the yield on the benchmark government issue due in 2026 shedding 5.5 basis points to 8 percent.
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