Rand near 3-week lows

Johannesburg - The rand traded near a three-week low against the dollar late on Thursday, reflecting lukewarm demand for emerging-market assets as the global economic outlook worsens.

With no domestic data to drive sentiment, the rand also fell victim to investors' concerns over renewed political tensions in Ukraine.

At 15:30 GMT, the rand was trading at 11.1780 to the dollar, down 0.28% from Wednesday's close in New York, after falling to a session low of 11.1945.

Government bonds were also weaker, nudging the yield for paper due in 2026 - the benchmark for the secondary market - up 1.5 basis points to 7.975%.

"The rand, as a lightning rod for shifts in EM sentiment, is experiencing the pain of an investor base which is pre-empting stronger geopolitical fallout in the East by reducing EM exposure," Tradition Analytics said in a market note.