Rand off to weak start for the year

Johannesburg - The rand was under early pressure against the dollar on the first trading day of 2016 on Monday, with pressure on the currency set to continue as weak domestic fundamentals weigh.

The JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index was down 1.25%, suggesting the local bourse would start the year more than 570 points lower.

By 08:50 the local unit was down 0.78% at R15.5800 to the greenback compared with its December 31 close of R15.4600.

"Given that most investors are expected to still be away on holiday, we expect rand moves to prove erratic amid thin trading this week," Barclays Africa said in a note.

Government bonds edged higher in early trade, with the yield for the benchmark 2026 issue dipping 2.5 basis points to 9.745%.

The local currency lost about a quarter of its value against the greenback in 2015, mainly due to investors dumping emerging markets in anticipation of higher US interest rates.

Concerns about weak growth in Africa's most developed economy also weighed and the shock removal of the finance minister in early December triggered a heavy selloff that pushed the currency to a historic low of R16.0485.