Johannesburg - The rand regained some lost ground on Friday
as exporters sold dollars, betting the local currency will keep its upward
trend intact.
Stocks fell for a fifth straight day as concerns over a
strike-induced supply shortfalls at heavyweight miners such as Anglo American [JSE:AGL] weighed.
Government bonds tracked the rand higher, with the yield on
the 2015 bond falling to six-month lows.
Short-term debt yields have fallen considerably in the past
two weeks as uncertainty in global markets has encouraged investors to look for
high-yielding assets.
Local credit data earlier showed monetary conditions locally
are still weak, with ETM managing director George Glynos saying the Reserve
Bank may have to keep interest rates at 30-year lows into the second half of
2012.
The trade account recorded a surplus of R4.9bn in June but a
2.9% decline in imports pointed to weak domestic demand.
The rand was trading at R6.70 to the dollar at 16:05 GMT,
0.42% firmer than Thursday's New York close.
The rand hit two-month highs of R6.6250 on Thursday, and may
re-test those levels next week.
"We still like the dollar/rand stronger and as such
suggest selling into weakness above R6.75/80 for a move back below R6.60 toward
the R6.53 support in the next week," said Brigid Taylor, chief dealer at
Nedbank.
Charts also point to the rand maintaining a firmer trend. It
is trading stronger than its 50-, 100- and 200-day moving averages and could
maintain gains if it does not pierce R6.80.
A rally in the gold price has also supported the rand.
On fixed income, the yield on the 2015 bond was at 7.34%
after hitting 6-month lows of R7.3150 earlier. The 2026 bond yield was at
8.505% after hitting a session low of 8.48%.
"Local bonds have been trading in tandem with the rand.
It has recovered and that has supported bonds. Next week, it will pretty much
be the same story of monitoring developments in the United States," said
Alvin Chawasema, bond dealer at Renaissance BJM.
On the bourse, the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index
fell 0.86% to 27 857.91 and has shed nearly 3% this week. The All Share
[JSE:J203] index lost 0.76% to 31 208.04.
Some 100 000 gold mine workers downed tools on Thursday at
the country's top three gold producers, weighing on shares in the sector.
Despite the gold price scaling record highs above $1 630 an
ounce on Friday, the domestic gold index is down 5.3% this week.
Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS] fell 2.3% at R573 and Impala Platinum Holdings
[JSE:IMP] lost 2.2% to R171.40.
Around four in every five ounces of platinum is mined out of
South Africa, so supply disruptions in the republic have a significant effect
on metals prices. The ongoing strikes have not spread to the platinum companies
yet, but could if wage talks fail.