S.African rand under pressure against dollar, 10.0 mark in sight

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand touched another four year low against the dollar on Wednesday, edging loser to the 10.0 mark as weak economic data and labour market tensions weighed on sentiment.

Government bonds took their cue from the currency, with selling pressure driving the yield for the 2026 paper 14.5 basis points higher to 7.335 percent while the 2015 issue rose 8 basis points to 5.345 percent.

The rand hit a session trough of 9.86 per dollar, a level last reached in mid-March 2009, and was trading at 9.8001 by 1539 GMT from Tuesday's close at 9.7850.

The market was still reeling from the previous day's data which showed growth in Africa's biggest economy slowed more than expected in the first quarter of 2013 as manufacturing output shrunk nearly 8 percent.

"The weakness in the rand has been due in large part to domestic factors," said Capital Economics analyst Shilan Shah.

The relationship between rand movements and global risk appetite had broken down in recent months, Shah noted, adding that while the currency's over 9 percent fall over the past month had left it undervalued, it was likely to remain weak.

The local currency has shed more than 15 percent against the dollar to date in 2013, the steepest decline among 20 emerging market currencies tracked by Reuters.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-rand-under-pressure-against-dollar-10-0-160541538.html

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