Rand flat but vulnerable to more weak data
South Africa's rand was largely flat against the dollar on Tuesday but could come under pressure ahead of the Reserve Bank's latest quarterly bulletin, which is expected to show a sizeable widening of the current account deficit.
The rand remains vulnerable to negative domestic news after falling as much as 1.3% on Friday when agency Fitch cut its outlook for South Africa while Standard and Poor's downgraded its rating outright.
South African markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday.
At 0644 GMT the rand was trading at R10.7610 to the dollar, barely shifted from Monday's offshore close in New York at R10.7565.
Friday's downgrades reflected the ratings agencies' concerns about the poor prospects for Africa's most advanced economy, which contracted in the first quarter of the year mainly due to a platinum strike now in its fifth month.
The leader of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union indicated last week that a deal to end the strike was imminent but miners and platinum producers have not yet reached an agreement.
"The rand remains vulnerable to South Africa's weak fundamental backdrop over the medium term," Barclays Africa said in a note. "The fact that the reported wage deal in the platinum sector has yet to be signed also detracts from a rand recovery."
The Reserve Bank's quarterly bulletin due out on Wednesday could deal another blow to the currency, with economists polled by Reuters expecting it to show the current account deficit widened to 6.1% of GDP in the first quarter from 5.1%.
Government bonds were slightly down in early Tuesday trade and yields for the benchmark 2026 and 2015 issues each added one basis point to 8.25% and 6.7% respectively.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Your global lifecycle technology & service partner for materials & minerals processing equipment for coal, iron ore, copper, manganese & other...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Supplier & Distributor of the Widest Range of Accurate & Easy-to-Use Alcohol Breathalysers
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
