JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand weakened on Friday, while stocks posted their biggest daily drop since Jan. 24, after Russian invasion forces seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in Ukraine in what Washington called a reckless assault that risked catastrophe.
The risk-off appetite battered markets across the globe while bonds, commodities and crude rallied as the escalating war in Ukraine raised concerns about slowing growth and faster inflation as investors bought up commodities as a hedge. [GLOB/MKTS]
Russian forces seized the nuclear plant after a building at the complex was set ablaze. Although the plant was later said to be safe and the fire out, officials worried about the precarious circumstances.
“Such reckless attacks on a nuclear plant compounds fears about just how far (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is prepared to go in Ukraine. There is a real fear that the worst is yet to come which is obviously deeply worrying,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
At 1535 GMT, the rand traded at 15.4425 against the dollar, 1.61% weaker than its previous close.
The rand had managed to recover from three-week lows hit on Wednesday as strong commodity prices offered support, but the escalation of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine has limited gains. South Africa is a rich commodity-exporting country.
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond was up a single basis point to 9.68%, reflecting slightly weaker prices.
In the equities markets, the Johannesburg All-Share index slumped 3.43% to 74,734 points, while the Top-40 index fell 3.56% to 68,357 points.
The major decliners were market heavyweights Naspers which tumbled 10.64% to its lowest level since October 2018, while Prosus sunk 9.47% to a record low.
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Kim Coghill and Jonathan Oatis)
