Rand slips as Chinese data weighs

Johannesburg - The rand slipped against the dollar on Thursday despite weakness in the dollar, under pressure from Chinese data suggesting that economic growth in the major export destination was cooling.

The rand fell 0.25% to R11.0900/$ by 08:06, from a New York close of R11.0625.

It failed to take advantage of an over-night slip by the dollar against major currencies, with the US unit pushed weaker by downbeat retail and producer price figures.

The rand gave up the meagre gains achieved in the previous session, when it was lifted by comments from the finance minister about targeting government spending.

Yields on government bonds sharpened, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 climbing 7 basis points to 8.05%.

Figures from China on Wednesday showed that consumer spending there had slowed to near 5-year lows, pointing to broad weakness in the world's second-largest economy which consumes much of the minerals exported by South Africa.