JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand was steady in early trade on Thursday, after plummeting a day earlier when a US banking crisis spread to Europe and led to a sharp deterioration in global risk appetite.
At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 18.4075 against the dollar , little changed from its previous close of 18.4175.
The local currency ended about 1.6% lower against the US dollar on Wednesday, shrugging off a smaller-than-expected contraction in local retail sales in January.
No major South African economic data releases are due on Thursday.
Recent data have pointed to ongoing weakness in Africa’s most industrialised economy, after a bigger-than-forecast fall in the fourth-quarter gross domestic product.
South African rand steady ahead of retail sales data
Severe power constraints are hurting businesses of all sizes, leading the central bank to expect almost no economic growth this year.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was also broadly flat in early deals, with the yield at 10.040%.
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