JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was weak for most of Friday’s trading session, capping a volatile week dominated by renewed trade jitters, while investor attention shifted towards a domestic inflation print due next week.
At 1509 GMT, the rand traded at 17.38 against the dollar, 0.2% weaker than Thursday’s close and in line with most emerging market peers.
The dollar was roughly up 0.3% against a basket of currencies while most commodities retreated on Friday pressured by the firmer dollar and U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment that a “full-scale” tariff on China would be unsustainable.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last down more than 2%, paring some of its recent gains.
“The JSE Top 40 index is being led lower by gold and precious metals today. These are the same stocks that have helped our local index outperform over the last bit,” said Shaun Murison, senior analyst at Rand Swiss.
Shares in major South African miners such as Sibanye Stillwater, Harmony Gold and Valterra Platinum fell about 9%, while Impala Platinum, Northam Platinum and Gold Fields were roughly down 6%.
Domestically focused investors will look to the release of September consumer price inflation data next week for clues on the health of Africa’s most industrialised economy.
Headline consumer inflation fell to 3.3% year-on-year in August from 3.5% in July.
Investec economists said in a research note that they expect inflation to remain unchanged, citing limited upside inflationary pressure, while economists polled by Reuters forecast a rise to 3.5%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was flat with the yield down half a basis point to 9.03%.
(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Sfundo ParakozovEditing by Mark Potter and Deepa Babington)
