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Johannesburg - The rand turned weaker against the dollar late on Tuesday after Eskom warned supply would be tight for the next two weeks and urged industrial users to consume less.
Government bonds were also weaker on the day after Eskom declared an "emergency" which could hit output at factories, mines and smelters.
The rand touched a session low of R10.20/$ after the news, and was down 0.5% on the day at R10.1950/$ by 16:08 GMT, having been slightly firmer beforehand.
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 gained six basis points to 8.155% while that for the 2015 bond at the shorter end of the curve rose 3.5 basis points to 6.01%.
The latest crunch raises the spectre of a near-collapse in the national grid similar to one in 2008 which forced Eskom to introduce rolling power cuts, referred to as "load shedding" in the country.
This could hold back investment and foreign direct investment in the country, warned Nomura emerging market analyst Peter Attard Montalto.
"Whilst ... we may well not see a repeat of 2008 load shedding, it is worth being reminded that at that time there was a 20 percent sell off in rand and a large volume of bond outflows," Montalto said.
Government bonds were also weaker on the day after Eskom declared an "emergency" which could hit output at factories, mines and smelters.
The rand touched a session low of R10.20/$ after the news, and was down 0.5% on the day at R10.1950/$ by 16:08 GMT, having been slightly firmer beforehand.
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 gained six basis points to 8.155% while that for the 2015 bond at the shorter end of the curve rose 3.5 basis points to 6.01%.
The latest crunch raises the spectre of a near-collapse in the national grid similar to one in 2008 which forced Eskom to introduce rolling power cuts, referred to as "load shedding" in the country.
This could hold back investment and foreign direct investment in the country, warned Nomura emerging market analyst Peter Attard Montalto.
"Whilst ... we may well not see a repeat of 2008 load shedding, it is worth being reminded that at that time there was a 20 percent sell off in rand and a large volume of bond outflows," Montalto said.
