Rand slips in afternoon trade

The rand slipped on Monday after a strong July performance, on the back of weak Chinese manufacturing data that analysts say has put pressure on emerging market currencies.

At 1345 GMT, the rand traded at R17.75 against the dollar.

The dollar last traded at 101.58, around 0.2% stronger against a basket of global currencies.

“After a volatile week last week, the rand has been pushed back by underwhelming Chinese manufacturing PMI…that has filtered across global markets with the largest impact (on) commodity linked currencies like the (rand),” said DailyFX analyst, Warren Venketas, in a research note.

Like other emerging market currencies, the risk-sensitive rand often takes cues from economic data points coming out of global players such as China and the United States.

Despite the losses for the day, the rand has gained more than 5% against the dollar this month.

Data released by the South African Revenue Service on Monday showed that the country recorded a R3.52 billion ($198.13 million) trade deficit in June. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a trade surplus of R11.85 billion.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top 40 index was last up around 0.55% from its close on Friday.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker with the yield up 3 basis points to 10.215%.