Rand slips as market awaits domestic data

Johannesburg - The rand traded softer against the dollar early on Thursday, with scope to extend losses should domestic mining and factory output data come out weaker than expected.

At 08:47, the local unit was trading down 0.35% at R12.3400/$, compared with Wednesday's New York close at 12.3115.

Government bonds were mostly flat, with the benchmark 2026 paper yielding half a basis point higher at 8.38%.

Traders and analysts said mining production numbers at 11:30 and manufacturing data at 13:00 would be the latest key clue on the state of the economy, currently beset by its worst electricity crisis in seven years.

"The domestic output data and US retails sales could cause rand short covering to abate," Barclays Africa said in a note.