Rand slips in early trade

SA’s rand lost some ground against the dollar on Friday morning as the greenback rebounded from its recent weakness.

Johannesburg - The rand weakened on Friday as the dollar bounced back from recent weakness, adding pressure further pressure on South Africa's currency following a string of poor growth figures.

Read also: Rand stumbles after economic data

By 06h45 GMT the rand was 0.35 percent weaker at 14.8600 per dollar, down from an overnight high of 14.7950 as it drifted further away from technical resistance around 14.6000.

Bonds inched firmer in early trade, with the benchmark government issue due in 2026 cutting 0.5 basis points to 9.045 percent.

Stocks were set to open lower on the Top-40 when trade resumed at 07h00 GMT, with JSE securities exchange's futures index down 0.11 percent.

The rand was already on the back foot after data earlier in the week showed the economy had contracted 1.2 percent in the first quarter, and continued to dive as the mining output in April continued to shrink according to figures published Thursday.

Traders said the currency, along with its emerging market peers, was likely to remain subdued ahead of a US Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting next week.

“Now that the local markets have weathered the recent ratings agency activity, the focus now shifts to the FOMC next week,” analysts at Nedbank said in a note.

“Although any expectations regarding interest changes have dissipated post last week's jobs data.”

REUTERS