Johannesburg - The rand was slightly softer against the
dollar at the start of Johannesburg trade on Wednesday, with labour unrest in
the mining sector seen keeping it under pressure.
Government bonds also got off to a slightly weak start, with
the yields on the three year and 14-year benchmarks each edging up half a basis
point to 5.555% and 7.565% respectively.
By 07:14 GMT the rand traded 0.34% weaker at R8.42582 to the
greenback compared with Wednesday's close in New York.
The rand has been largely on the back foot since violence at
Lonmin's Marikana mine left 44 people dead earlier this month, raising concerns
about the viability of investing in the country.
"Our politics haven't been a factor for a while, it's
certainly been on the back burner, but suddenly our politics are now on the
radar," said Jim Bryson, a currency trader at RMB.
"Certainly if we get any more bad news on the labour
front, with the platinum mines, the foreigners really seem to be bothered about
that," he added.
The market was also eyeing Friday's meeting of central
bankers at Jackson Hole in the US for measures to revive the struggling global
economy.
In the meantime, a sustained stay above the R8.37 mark could
push the rand weaker towards R8.48/dollar, Bryson said.
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