(Reuters) -South Africa’s rand strengthened against the dollar on Tuesday after slipping to its weakest for 21 months in early trade.
By 1548 GMT the rand traded at 16.9675 against the dollar, 0.77% stronger than its previous close. On Monday the rand hit its lowest level since September 2020.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six counterparts, dropped by more than 0.2% to 107.88.
South Africa’s manufacturing output was down 2.3% year on year in May after falling by a revised 7.6% in April, statistics agency data showed.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index closed 0.07% down while the broader all-share index dropped by 0.09%.
The mining index on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange ended 3.31% down on weaker commodity prices. Anglo American Platinum, Northam Platinum Holdings and Impala Platinum Holdings dropped 5.9%, 5.4% and 4.9% respectively.
However, financials remained resilient, with the bank index up 1.17% at the close.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was barely changed with the yield at 10.835%.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Anait Miridzhanian in GdanskEditing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and David Goodman)
