JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar early on Thursday, reflecting a cautious mood in emerging markets due to lingering fears of a global trade war.
At 0631 GMT, the rand was at 11.9000 per dollar, 0.25 percent weaker than its overnight close of 11.8700.
Technical and momentum indicators suggested the rand was slightly oversold in the past few sessions, losing more than 1 percent in value against the greenback since March 29, as the trade tiff between the world's two largest economies escalated.
"The rand remains on the back foot due to what's happening globally. The escalating trade war induced the risk-off tone," said ETM analyst ETM Halen Bothma.
The rand was also undermined by concerns about the government's fiscal position, highlighted this week by the tax service admitting it had missed its revenue collection target and Moody's downgrading state power giant Eskom, Bothma added.
Local data releases on Thursday include Standard Bank PMI data and business confidence survey.
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond was flat at 8.070 percent.
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