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Rand under pressure ahead of US jobs report

Johannesburg - The rand remained on a weaker footing on Friday after touching a new five-year low against the dollar the previous day, and could come under renewed pressure if U.S. non-farm payrolls data comes out stronger than expected.

The rand was at R10.8100 to the dollar at 06:57 GMT, little changed from Thursday's New York close. It had earlier touched R10.8330, its lowest level since October 2008.

The closely-watched US jobs report is expected to reflect the recovery in the world's largest economy but there are also concerns that a strong report could bolster the case for a faster withdrawal of the Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus.

"Given the negative momentum behind the local unit, there is a risk that the rand could continue to weaken today particularly if the US non-farm payrolls report surprises on the high side," wrote Rand Merchant Bank's Theuns de Wet.

"Given the strong ADP employment report that was released on Wednesday, the risks are skewed towards an upside surprise."

The yield on the 2026 government bond edged 1 basis point lower to 8.275% while that on the 2015 paper fell by the same margin to 6.245%.
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Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
910.50
+1.5%
Palladium
1,011.50
+1.0%
Gold
2,221.35
+1.2%
Silver
24.87
+0.9%
Brent-ruolie
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Top 40
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All Share
74,536
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Resource 10
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Financial 15
16,502
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