JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand strengthened on Tuesday despite a sharp contraction in local manufacturing output, as investors waited for more clarity on U.S.-China trade talks.
At 1415 GMT, the rand traded at 17.69 against the dollar, about 0.2% stronger than Monday’s closing level.
South Africa’s manufacturing output fell 6.3% year on year in April, the sixth consecutive monthly decline, statistics agency data showed on Tuesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a drop of 3.9%.
Weakness in the manufacturing sector was one factor behind the first quarter’s sluggish growth of just 0.1%, offsetting a strong performance by agriculture.
The rand was also supported on Tuesday by a stronger global gold price and by a weaker U.S.
dollar.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 index was last up 0.6%. The benchmark 2035 government bond was stronger, as the yield fell 4 basis points to 10.095%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Alessandro Parodi;Editing by Alexander Winning, Editing by Franklin Paul)
