JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand hit a three-month low on Tuesday, hurt by a stronger dollar and weaker gold prices, as markets grappled with what another Donald Trump presidency will mean for U.S. policy and trade relations.
At 1030 GMT, the rand traded at 18.0850 against the dollar, down about 0.9% on its previous close, after earlier touching its weakest level since mid-August.
The risk-sensitive rand has been highly volatile since Trump’s U.S. election win last week and is on course for its third day of heavy losses.
Investors have piled into trades seen as benefiting from the incoming U.S. administration, with markets anticipating Trump’s policies could mean higher economic growth in the short term but also potentially inflationary pressures.
Potential policy changes include tariffs and tax cuts.
ETM Analytics said in a research note that the rand “remains on the defensive while investors try to understand what (Trump’s win) means for the dollar and for currencies quoted against it”.
The rand reacted little to positive local job data on Tuesday showing the unemployment rate fell for the first time in a year in the third quarter.
The unemployment rate fell to 32.1% from 33.5% in the second quarter.
Next up among potential local drivers is September manufacturing output data at 1100 GMT. Economists polled by Reuters are predicting a 0.9% year-on-year expansion after August’s 1.2% decline.
On the Johannesburg stock market, the Top-40 index was down about 0.9%.
The benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, the yield up 3.5 basis points to 9.26%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning and Kim Coghill)
