S. African rand falls against dollar ahead of mining data

The South African rand weakened against the dollar in early trading on Thursday ahead of the release of mining and manufacturing data later in the day, Reuters reported.

The rand was trading at 18.6400 at 0757 GMT, down 0.4 per cent from its previous close. The dollar was up 0.15 per cent against a basket of global currencies.

Statistics South Africa will release gold and mining output, as well as manufacturing production figures for January, which could impact the local currency.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was down 0.4 per cent. The benchmark 2030 government bond yield rose four basis points to 10.25 per cent.