JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was little changed against the dollar on Thursday as the current account deficit narrowed in the third quarter and October manufacturing edged up on an annual basis.
At 1530 GMT, the rand traded at 17.1600 against the dollar, close to its previous close of 17.1725.
Central bank figures showed the current account deficit narrowed to 0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in July-September from a deficit of 1.6% in the prior quarter.
October manufacturing output rose 1.0% year on year, less than September’s 2.9% increase, Statistics South Africa said.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted the current account deficit would come in at 0.8% of GDP and that manufacturing output would rise 4.5% year on year.
Thursday’s muted trade is in stark contrast to sharp moves last week when President Cyril Ramaphosa’s political future hung in the balance and the rand and bonds saw steep falls.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s All-share index closed up about 0.6%. The government’s benchmark 2030 bond firmed, with the yield falling 9 basis points to 10.420%.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Alexander Winning; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
