JOHANNESBURG: The South African rand slipped in early trade on Thursday after a week of gains, dragged down by an uptick in the dollar and a weaker global gold price.
At 0715 GMT, the rand traded at 17.58 against the dollar , down 0.4% on Wednesday’s closing level.
The dollar was up 0.1% against a basket of global currencies , while spot gold traded down 0.3%.
In recent days, the rand had benefited from investor optimism that the country’s budget would pass after months of delays and revisions.
South Africa’s parliament passed the last major budget bill late on Wednesday after the two biggest parties in the governing coalition found common ground after months of disagreements.
With no major domestic data releases for the rest of this week, the rand may now move mainly on global drivers.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index rose 0.3% in early trade. The yield on the benchmark 2035 government bond was little changed at 9.82%.
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