Rand unchanged amid power cut woes

The rand was steady in early trade on Wednesday, as the country continued to be battered by its worst rolling blackouts on record.

At 09:22, the rand traded at R19.25 against the dollar.

The dollar last traded around 0.07% weaker against a basket of global currencies.

The rand had tumbled on Tuesday after South Africa’s struggling state utility Eskom reinstated the worst rolling blackouts on record, which mean up to 12 hours of power cuts for most households per day.

South Africa’s economy reported stronger than expected growth in the second quarter of 2023 in data released earlier this week, but the economic outlook remains gloomy, analysts said.

“Surprisingly strong local Q2 GDP numbers have done little to support the rand as we settle into a new R19.00/R19.30 short-term trading range,” said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.

“Global risk aversion along with local power issues will keep the rand on the back foot for now,” he added.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was slightly stronger in early trade, with the yield down 0.5 basis points to 10.405%.