Rand weakens as oil tumble fuels jitters

Johannesburg - The rand weakened against the US dollar early on Wednesday as falling global oil prices, down 10% in the past two days, and worries over global growth prospects soured confidence in emerging market assets.

At 06:00 GMT the rand traded at R11.7275/$, 0.11% softer following an overnight close of R11.7150 in New York, the currency failing to confirm stops near the R11.6800 resistance level.

Government bonds continued to be firm as investors sought safer bets in fixed income, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 shedding 3.5 basis points to a month-low of 7.755%.

Russia's rouble led the slide in emerging market currencies, falling by over 4% as the price of Brent crude eased another 17c to $50.93 a barrel.

READ: Oil down almost 10% in two days

Eurozone inflation data due later in the session is expected to show a fall in prices across the region, while a Reuters poll predicts Chinese gross domestic product will slow to its weakest since 2009, as economies globally continue to struggle and fuel uncertainty.

Locally, the vehicle industry publishes new car sales data for December at 09:00 GMT.