Johannesburg - The rand gave up its gains against the dollar early on Monday, tracking other commodity currencies which fell after China, a major importer of their products, released weak trade data.
At 08:43 the rand was trading 0.61% softer at R12.0735/$ compared with its closing level on Friday.
The rand mirrored a tumble by the Australian dollar after a shock contraction in China's exports added to worries about slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.
"The rand is at risk of pushing substantially weaker today following the terrible Chinese trade data," said John Cairns, a currency strategist at Rand Merchant Bank.
"The rand is usually not as sensitive to data from China but will presumably play follow-my-leader this morning."
Government bonds were similarly soft in early trade. The yield ON the 2026 benchmark rose 5.5 basis points to 7.765%.
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