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Johannesburg - The rand weakened against the dollar on Monday, hit by on-going power constraints and weaker-than-expected Chinese trade data.
State power utility Eskom said it would institute further rolling blackouts, following its largest power cuts in 9 months over the weekend, as one of its power stations failed to operate at full capacity.
READ: More power cuts as Eskom fixes generators
News of the cuts on Friday helped send the local unit to its weakest against the dollar since January and just short of the R11.4000 mark it last hit in 2008. It later recouped some losses.
By 08:19 the rand traded 0.15% weaker at R11.3575/$ following a close of R11.3400 in New York and looked set for further moves lower when the current account figures are released later on Monday.
Economists predict the current account shortfall will shrink to 5.8% of gross domestic product from 6.2% in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll.
"Such a narrowing would be cold comfort in times when South Africa is experiencing sporadic foreign inflows and outflows," ETM Analytics said in a morning note.
READ: SA trade deficit shocker
"It implies the fallout will continue to lie with the rand whenever the country's major external deficits cannot be adequately financed".
The rand was also hit as data showed Chinese demand for imports fell by 6.7%, the biggest drop since March and a further sign the world's second-biggest economy, and a major export destination for South Africa, is cooling.
Government bonds were flat in early trade, with the yield on the benchmark issue due in 2026 unmoved at 7.765%.
State power utility Eskom said it would institute further rolling blackouts, following its largest power cuts in 9 months over the weekend, as one of its power stations failed to operate at full capacity.
READ: More power cuts as Eskom fixes generators
News of the cuts on Friday helped send the local unit to its weakest against the dollar since January and just short of the R11.4000 mark it last hit in 2008. It later recouped some losses.
By 08:19 the rand traded 0.15% weaker at R11.3575/$ following a close of R11.3400 in New York and looked set for further moves lower when the current account figures are released later on Monday.
Economists predict the current account shortfall will shrink to 5.8% of gross domestic product from 6.2% in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll.
"Such a narrowing would be cold comfort in times when South Africa is experiencing sporadic foreign inflows and outflows," ETM Analytics said in a morning note.
READ: SA trade deficit shocker
"It implies the fallout will continue to lie with the rand whenever the country's major external deficits cannot be adequately financed".
The rand was also hit as data showed Chinese demand for imports fell by 6.7%, the biggest drop since March and a further sign the world's second-biggest economy, and a major export destination for South Africa, is cooling.
Government bonds were flat in early trade, with the yield on the benchmark issue due in 2026 unmoved at 7.765%.
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