JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand was range-bound on Thursday, buoyed mainly by higher gold prices as investors opted for the safe haven bullion amid trade frictions between Beijing and Washington.
At 1420 GMT the rand traded at 17.3125 against the dollar, little changed from Wednesday’s close.
Investors this week have stayed focused on the simmering U.S.-China trade spat, with Washington on Wednesday criticizing China’s expanded rare earth export controls as a threat to global supply chains.
Meanwhile, the ongoing U.S. government shutdown has halted scheduled economic data, with a Treasury official warning it could cost the economy up to $15 billion a week in lost output.
Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often takes cues from global drivers such as U.S. policy and economic data.
“The USD-ZAR appears to have gathered itself and is trading in a tighter range,” ETM Analytics said in a research note, adding that the local currency appears to be waiting for a fresh catalyst related to rising U.S.-China tensions and the impact this could have on U.S. stock markets for direction.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was last up 1%, boosted mainly by gold miners.
South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond edged up, with the yield falling 3 basis points to 9.015%.
(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Peter Graff)
