adminDomestic stocks looked set to start negative, with the JSE’s Top 40 — (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] December futures contract down 0.52 percent before the 07:00 GMT start of trade. Stocks fell on Wednesday, falling into negative territory for the year.
The domestic calender will feature producer inflation data at 09:30 GMT, with the market expecting it at 10.5 percent year-on-year.
The rand was trading at R8.4335 against the dollar at 06:37 GMT, not far from Wednesday’s New York close of R8.4307.
“It’s weak on back of what is going in the world and on the commodity currencies,” said a dealer.
“It’s not just the rand that’s been hammered here, it’s across the board and the biggest contributing factor is the euro getting sold off quite aggressively“
The euro — the currency of the South Africa’s largest trading partner — was hovering near 11-month lows.
The rand was weak against the euro and sterling as well, trading near two-week lows to sterling.
Government bonds weakened, with inflation data that showed the consumer price index hit a 20-month high also weighing on bonds.
The yield on the 2015 bond was up 2.5 basis points and that on the 2026 note ticked up a basis point to 8.79 percent. — Reuters.
Online Reporter