The Rand began local trade slightly softer against its peers, but went on to post additional declines against the US Dollar and Pound as a result of concerning manufacturing growth data.
At the current exchange rate 1 Pound will purchase 15.1110 South African Rand as of 16:00 GMT
Economists anticipated that factory output in South Africa would expand by 2.9 per cent in May following April’s 7.1 per cent advance, but growth actually slowed to 2.2 per cent.
The GBP/ZAR exchange rate hit a high of 15.3009 Rand per Pound
Meanwhile a separate report showed that mining output in Africa’s biggest gold producer dropped by 0.7 per cent in May year-on-year.
The Rand extended declines against the US Dollar and Pound after the reports were released and one Johannesburg-based industry expert commented: ‘Against a backdrop of lower commodity prices and continued cost pressure from labour and electricity markets, it is difficult to see how activity in the mining sector will manage to pick up meaningfully over the next few months. The outlook for manufacturing is also downbeat if one considers slowing domestic demand and labour cost pressures in this industry.’
South African data to watch out for next week includes consumer confidence figures for the second quarter and the retail sales report for May, both due out on Wednesday.
Significant Rand volatility could occur following the Reserve Bank of South Africa’s rate decision on Friday.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 10.0090 >
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 15.1110 >
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.0451 >
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.0551 <
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 7.8244 >
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.5584 >
(Correct as of 16:00 GMT)
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