Rand marks time as China virus, power cuts weigh

 South Africa‘s rand trod water against the dollar in early trade on Friday amid fears over a new virus from China, with renewed power cuts and a weak domestic economic outlook further weighing on the currency.

* At 09:22 GMT, the rand traded at 14.7500 versus the dollar, 0.1% higher than its New York close on Thursday.

* Investors clutched at hopes China could contain the spread of the coronavirus after the World Health Organization on Thursday declared a global health emergency as the virus spread to more countries.

* “The Coronavirus remains the main driver in markets at the moment with the rising number of infections and deaths being offset by the World Health Organisation expressing confidence in China’s response to the outbreak,” said TreasuryOne in a morning note

* Locally, investors are also cautious about South Africa‘s poor economic outlook, with state power utility Eskom’s creaky fleet of coal-fired plants struggling to meet electricity demand and resumed power cuts on Thursday evening.

* Government bonds weakened, with the yield on the benchmark instrument maturing in 2026 up 1.5 basis points to 8.055%.

* Stocks opened slightly weaker with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 futures index down 0.39% to 50,357 points.