Rand flat, stocks dragged lower by Steinhoff

Johannesburg - The rand edged weaker on Thursday due to weak local mining data and a return of dollar strength, while furniture maker Steinhoff and resource firms led stocks lower.

By 16:00 GMT the rand had slipped 0.2% to 14.5305 per dollar, giving up a brief rally that had lifted the unit a session high R14.4445.

Bonds firmed, with the benchmark paper due in 2026 cutting 2.5 basis points to 8.965%.

Mining production in fell below expectations, down 8.7% in February, official data showed, another sign Africa's most industrialised economy was barely growing.

"The continued struggles of the mining sector will add to the challenge of creating a meaningful acceleration in headline GDP growth," Africa analyst at Capital Economics John Ashbourne said.

South Africa's economy is expected to grow by only 0.6% in 2016 by the International Monetary Fund as a result of weaker exports and policy uncertainty.

A stronger dollar, buoyed by improved global sentiment toward safe-haven assets that has seen investors trim bearish positions on the greenback, added pressure on the rand in the session. The rand's emerging market peers also felt the heat.

In stocks, the benchmark Top-40 index fell 0.14% to 46 551 points while the broader All-Share index dropped 0.17% to 52 848 points.

Johannesburg-listed shares of Steinhoff fell 3% to R90.50 after it announced a billion euro convertible bond, which was seen diluting its shares.

After four consecutive sessions of gains, the mining index fell 0.32% on weaker metal prices. Gold eased on Thursday with uncertainty over the outlook for US monetary policy this year adding to volatility.

Harmony Gold fell 5.3% to R54, AngloGold Ashanti slipped 2.7% to R220.44 and Sibanye Gold climbed down 3.5% to R56.60.

Trade was relatively slow, with 235 million shares changing hands compared to last year's daily average of 280 million shares.