Rand flat before US payrolls data

The rand was unchanged in early trade on Friday ahead of US payrolls data that could give market direction.

At 0627 GMT, the rand traded at R19.51 against the dollar.

The dollar last traded around 0.1% stronger against a basket of global currencies.

The rand fell to a four-month low on Thursday as analysts rued the weakness of the local currency and the central bank governor said the bank would not step in to protect the local currency.

Investors now await US jobs data later on Friday.

“This data … can have a significant impact on the financial markets,” said Shaun Murison, senior market analyst at IG.

Data that shows increasing employment could signal a stronger US economy, which may prompt the dollar to surge and could put additional pressure on the rand, Murison added.

Locally, South Africa’s net foreign reserves fell to $54.980 billion by the end of September from $55.444 billion in August, central bank data showed on Friday.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger in early deals, with the yield down 2 basis points to 10.985%.