JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand weakened as a buoyant dollar and disappointing domestic economic data releases weighed on the local currency on Wednesday.
At 1510 GMT, the rand traded at 18.87 against the U.S. dollar, about 0.9% weaker than its previous close. It earlier hit 18.97 per dollar, a level not seen since early June 2024.
The greenback was last trading up about 0.37% against a basket of currencies on elevated U.S. bond yields and tariff talks.
South African manufacturing activity fell for the second month in a row in December as demand declined, a purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey showed.
South Africa’s net foreign reserves also fell to $60.371 billion at the end of December from $60.619 billion in November, according to central bank data released earlier in the day.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index closed about 1.12% lower.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield down 6.5 basis points to 9.115%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Alex Richardson)
