JSE falls over 3%

South Africa’s rand weakened on Friday, struggling to gain traction with appetite for risky assets sapped as the Ukraine crisis kept investors on edge.

At 11:34, the rand traded at 15.2946 against the dollar, 0.66% weaker than its previous close, amid heightened investor anxiety after reports that Russian forces had attacked a nuclear plant in Ukraine — the largest of its kind in Europe.

The rand has managed to recover from three-week lows hit on Wednesday as strong commodity prices offered support, but the escalation of Russian’s offensive in Ukraine has limited gains. South Africa is a rich commodity-exporting country.

South African stocks gave up earlier gains that were buoyed by positive company earnings to close in the red, as investors worried that surging commodity prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will add to global inflation.

The JSE All Share was down 3.44% at 74 732.16 points and the Top 40 down 3.6% at 68 327.93 by 11:17 on Friday.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 2030 government bond ZAR2030= was up a single basis point to 9.59%, reflecting slightly weaker prices.