JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand edged higher on Thursday after data out of the United States showed a fall in jobless claims which eased fears of a hard landing in the world’s biggest economy.
At 1331 GMT, the rand traded at 18.38 against the dollar, about 0.16% stronger than its Wednesday close.
Jobless claims data out of the U.S.
on Thursday showed a stronger labour market, “but could signal potential wage growth and inflation,” said Wichard Cilliers, head of market risk at TreasuryONE.
The data has taken on extra significance after weak U.S.
employment numbers last week helped spark a global equity market rout, which also saw South African assets and the rand plunge on Monday.
Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes cues from global drivers like U.S.
economic data in addition to local factors.
On the domestic front, South Africa’s manufacturing output fell 5.2% year on year in June, after falling by a revised 1.2% in May, statistics agency data showed.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index traded about 0.1% weaker.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was also weaker, with the yield up 2.5 basis points to 9.405%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning and Christina Fincher)
