JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand weakened on Friday against a buoyant dollar as markets awaited U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline for Canada and Mexico.
At 1447 GMT, the rand traded at 18.6350 against the dollar, about 0.1% softer than its previous close. The dollar last traded about 0.2% firmer against a basket of currencies.
Trump has said he will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada from Feb. 1 if the two countries do not crack down on the flow of illegal migrants and the drug fentanyl into the United States.
South Africa’s central bank said on Thursday that it had modelled the potential impact of a trade war, as it highlighted the uncertain global backdrop while trimming interest rates.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last up about 0.4%.
The benchmark 2030 government bond slipped, with the yield up 5 basis points to 9.055%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning and Shounak Dasgupta)
