Rand at 2-week low on emerging market sell-off

Johannesburg - South Africa's rand fell to a two-week low against the dollar on Monday as the greenback firmed on expectations of higher interest rates, while weak Chinese trade data weighed on commodity currencies.

At 16:30 GMT, the rand was trading 1.02% weaker at R12.1225 to the dollar compared with its closing level on Friday. The local currency was at its weakest level since March 31, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"It’s down on the session, mainly driven by a stronger dollar. We’re seeing emerging market currencies across the board being sold off, the exception being the Russian rouble," said Ricardo Da Camara, a market analyst with ETM Analytics.

A stabilising oil market boosted Russian assets. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.24%.

The rand also mirrored other commodity currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, which fell after China - a major importer of their products - released weak trade data.

Government bonds also weakened, and the yield for the 2026 benchmark up 8.5 basis points to 7.795%.