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Rand weakens as investors flee risk

Johannesburg - The rand weakened in early trade on Tuesday, caught in the global sell-off with investors rushing to safe-haven assets as fears of a global economic slowdown weighed.

At 08:46 the rand weakened 0.34% to R16.1950/$, compared to where it closed in New York on Monday.

"Risk currencies have not escaped the rout," said Rand Merchant Bank currency strategist John Cairns. "The rand has largely just followed the pack, although it has continued to sell-off this morning, even as everything else stabilises."'

Growing fears over a global economic slowdown have spiralled into sharp weakness in risk assets, including the rand which prompted investors to also dump financial stocks.

With many Asian markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, thin conditions might have amplified trading moves, market participants said. Most markets in the region will re-open from Wednesday, with Chinese markets returning next week.

Government bonds were mostly weak in early trade, with the benchmark paper due in 2026 adding 0.5 basis points at 9.345%.

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Rand - Dollar
19.00
-0.5%
Rand - Pound
24.02
-0.5%
Rand - Euro
20.51
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.6%
Platinum
900.15
+0.4%
Palladium
1,000.00
-0.2%
Gold
2,209.06
+0.7%
Silver
24.59
-0.2%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,122
+0.7%
All Share
74,310
+0.5%
Resource 10
56,908
+2.2%
Industrial 25
103,615
+0.3%
Financial 15
16,488
-0.2%
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