The Rand falls as the dollar gains ground
The Rand falls as the dollar performs poorly in the second quarter.
The data calendar gets busier the following week, with July consumer and producer inflation, second-quarter unemployment, and a leading business cycle indicator.
The yield on the South African government's benchmark 2030 bond fell 0.5 basis points to 10.165% in early trading.
The rand was trading at R16.74 per dollar at 0830, down about 0.8% from its previous close.
With no major domestic economic data due on Thursday, the South African currency is expected to follow global cues.
June retail sales fell unexpectedly in June, adding to evidence that the economy performed poorly in the second quarter.
The data calendar gets busier the following week, with July consumer and producer inflation, second-quarter unemployment, and a leading business cycle indicator.
The yield on the South African government's benchmark 2030 bond fell 0.5 basis points to 10.165% in early trading.
World markets
Asian stocks fell and Treasuries rose after Federal Reserve minutes revealed officials face a delicate balancing act to contain inflation while avoiding a recession, and as investors considered a bleak Chinese economic outlook.
Losses in Japan, China, and a Hong Kong tech index drained an Asian equity gauge. US contracts weakened after Wall Street stocks fell for the first time in four days, with the Nasdaq 100 index falling more than 1%.
Fed officials saw the need to gradually slow the pace of interest-rate increases and warned against over-tightening, which could harm the economy, but they also warned against inflationary pressures becoming entrenched.
The rise in Treasuries reduced the 10-year yield to around 2.87%. The dollar index rose slightly. Oil was trading around R1 470 per barrel, gold was slightly higher, and Bitcoin was little changed.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists reduced their full-year growth forecast for China to 3% from 3.3%. A property crisis, rolling Covid curbs, and stressed power supplies are stifling the country.
"We still have to absorb what's going on in China and get more transparency," WealthWise Financial CEO Loreen Gilbert said on Bloomberg Television. '' We may be looking in two handles rather than three on GDP ." That is a significant decline in the Chinese economy that has not been priced in, either domestically for China or globally.
