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Johannesburg - The rand slipped against the dollar on Thursday, hurt by a 10-week strike at the country's platinum mines and looking vulnerable before a US jobs report that may leave it lower against the US currency for the week.
Platinum producer Lonmin became the latest big miner to declare "force majeure" with some contractors at its South African mines on Thursday, expanding the impact on the economy of the strike over wage demands.
Platinum producers Lonmin, Impala Platinum and Anglo American Platinum, who account for 40% of global output of the metal, say they have so far lost around R11.3bn in revenue while employees have missed out on over R5bn in earnings since the strike began.
The rand was 0.3% weaker than its previous close, trading at R10.6400/$ by 16:52 GMT on Thursday, coming back slightly from a low point for the week of R10.6870/$.
"A robust (US) non-farm payrolls jobs report is possible and a corresponding increase in dollar demand may expose dollar/rand to R10.728/$ key resistance," analysts at 4CAst said in a market note.
On the other hand, a weak report and a pullback through the 10.60 level could see the rand try for stronger levels.
The rand hit a three-month high at the start of the week on quarter-end demand, but dealers say that was a one-off and the currency has trended weaker since then. It is still slightly higher compared with the end of last week.
Government bonds ended steady, with yields on the benchmarks ticking up just 0.5 basis points to 8.525% on the 2026 bond and to 6.795% on the shorter-dated 2015 note.
Platinum producer Lonmin became the latest big miner to declare "force majeure" with some contractors at its South African mines on Thursday, expanding the impact on the economy of the strike over wage demands.
Platinum producers Lonmin, Impala Platinum and Anglo American Platinum, who account for 40% of global output of the metal, say they have so far lost around R11.3bn in revenue while employees have missed out on over R5bn in earnings since the strike began.
The rand was 0.3% weaker than its previous close, trading at R10.6400/$ by 16:52 GMT on Thursday, coming back slightly from a low point for the week of R10.6870/$.
"A robust (US) non-farm payrolls jobs report is possible and a corresponding increase in dollar demand may expose dollar/rand to R10.728/$ key resistance," analysts at 4CAst said in a market note.
On the other hand, a weak report and a pullback through the 10.60 level could see the rand try for stronger levels.
The rand hit a three-month high at the start of the week on quarter-end demand, but dealers say that was a one-off and the currency has trended weaker since then. It is still slightly higher compared with the end of last week.
Government bonds ended steady, with yields on the benchmarks ticking up just 0.5 basis points to 8.525% on the 2026 bond and to 6.795% on the shorter-dated 2015 note.
