JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was steady in early trade on Thursday, retaining recent gains from a gold rally that boosted most emerging market assets.
At 0622 GMT, the rand traded at 17.17 against the dollar, little changed from Wednesday’s close.
Statistics South Africa will publish August manufacturing output data at 1100 GMT, which will offer domestically-focussed investors clues on the health of Africa’s largest industrialised economy.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect production growth to have slowed to 0.1%. Nedbank economists forecast a 0.3% increase.
“While the sector continues to struggle, some support will come from consumer-oriented manufacturing sectors, which will benefit from the upturn in demand, improvements in electricity generation, and logistics,” the Nedbank economists said in a research note.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was also steady in early deals, with the yield at 9.088%.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov.Editing Mark Potter)
