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Rand falls as risk appetite wanes

Johannesburg - The rand fell more than 1.3% against the dollar on Tuesday to its weakest level in two months as waning global risk appetite and the threat of more strikes hurt sentiment.

It was the second worst performer after Brazil's real in a basket of 20 emerging market currencies.

Government bonds also weakened on the secondary market after a poorly subscribed weekly primary debt auction at which the bid-to-cover ratio averaged 1.6 times.

The yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 rose 2 basis points in the secondary market, to 8.145%, while the yield on its 2015 bond was up 3 basis points at 6.055%.

The rand traded at R10.2490/$ the greenback by 14:48 GMT, a 1.22% decline from Monday's New York close of R10.1250/$. It had earlier touched a session low of R10.2650/$, the currency's softest since September 5, according to Reuters data.

"Broadly, emerging market currencies are all in the red again today, and the rand is just a serial underperformer because of its structural vulnerabilities and the negative sentiment surrounding it," said ETM market analyst Gareth Brickman.

"The local bond auction showed quite soft demand, we've seen US Treasury yields higher ... Right now the market sentiment is not in the rand's favour."

The weaker rand also helped push stocks to a record high at Tuesday's close. The currency has shed more than 21% of its value against the dollar since the start of 2013.

South Africa's yawning current account deficit of around 6% of GDP means the rand is among a handful of currencies that are particularly vulnerable to sudden portfolio flows out of emerging markets.

It has also taken a knock over the past year as investors worry about the impact of strikes that have hit mining output in the world's largest platinum producer.

Workers from the National Union of Mineworkers began a strike over wages at mid-tier producer Northam Platinum on Sunday evening.

Fears remain that the strike will spread across the platinum industry, potentially hitting about half of global output and dealing a fresh blow to investor confidence in South Africa.

Mine stoppages last year hit economic growth and led to the downgrading of the country's sovereign credit rating.

A five-week-long strike over wages at global brewer SABMiller ended on Tuesday.

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Rand - Dollar
18.92
+0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.88
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.38
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.1%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent-ruolie
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
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