JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand weakened on Thursday, as the dollar firmed on strong U.S. labour data, which suggested the Federal Reserve will likely keep rates higher for longer.
At 1611 GMT, the rand traded at 18.1650 to the dollar, 0.28% weaker than its previous close but still an improvement on the levels it had reached late last month.
The dollar was up about 0.5% against a basket of global currencies.
There were no local economic data releases on Thursday. Investors will be looking at S&P Global’s South Africa PMI survey due on Friday to see how the economy fared in February.
“Notwithstanding the ongoing high degree of load-shedding that has detracted massively from economic growth, the ZAR has recovered from its worst levels, at one stage breaking below 18.1000,” said ETM Analytics in a research note.
“How much further the recovery runs will depend on what risk appetite does in the next two days.”
On the stock market, the Top-40 index and the broader all-share index were both down about 1.4%.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was weaker, with the yield up 8.5 basis points to 10.175%.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sharon Singleton)
