South African rand hovers near record low on dollar strength

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South African rand hovers near record low on dollar strength

6:35 CAT | 01 Jun 2023

File photo: Reuters

– The South African rand weakened on Wednesday to circle near a record low hit in the previous session, pressured by a strengthening U.S. dollar and tepid local investor sentiment.

The rand has had a torrid May, losing more than 7% against the dollar this month, as investor sentiment slumped over a raft of factors including a heightened power crisis and U.S. allegations denied by South Africa that it supplied weapons to Russia last year.

At 0635 GMT, the rand traded at 19.7500 against the dollar ZAR=D3, 0.3% weaker than its previous close.

The dollar =USD was up about 0.3% against a basket of currencies on global markets.

The rand touched an all-time low of 19.8600 to the greenback on Tuesday before recovering some ground.

April trade figures will be published by the revenue service around 1200 GMT on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters are predicting a smaller surplus of 4.95 billion rand versus 6.89 billion rand in March.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond ZAR2030= was flat in early deals, the yield down 1 basis point at 11.305%.

Source: Reuters