Rand slips before final day of Brics summit

The South African rand slipped in early trade on Thursday, ahead of the final day of the Brics summit of emerging economies in Johannesburg where the bloc is weighing expansion to give the “Global South” more clout in world affairs.

At 0647 GMT, the rand traded at R18.52 against the dollar.

The dollar was up about 0.1% against a basket of global currencies.

The rand gained 1.7% on Wednesday after July inflation data came in lower than expected and the greenback fell.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to address the media on Thursday morning on the outcomes of the summit of the Brics nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

More than 40 countries have expressed an interest in joining Brics, say South African officials, and 22 have formally asked to be admitted.

They represent a disparate pool of potential candidates – from Iran to Argentina – motivated largely by a desire to level a global playing field many consider rigged against them and attracted by Brics’ promise to rebalance the global order.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 5 basis points to 10.240%.