JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand weakened on Friday, but ended the month of June with significant gains, while Johannesburg-listed stocks closed higher.
At 1650 GMT, the rand traded at 18.8050 against the dollar, 0.17% weaker than its previous close.
The dollar last traded at 102.870, around 0.4% weaker against a basket of global currencies.
“After kicking off the week on the front foot, the (rand) has come under notable selling pressure, with the market, by and large, taking direction from external developments,” said Kieran Siney of ETM Analytics.
The rand slipped in the second half of the week after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday alluded to further interest rate hikes to tackle inflation, giving the dollar a boost.
However, the rand has still appreciated by more than 4% against the dollar since the start of June, making it the second-best-performing emerging market currency this month, Siney said.
“The rand did fairly well compared to its EM (emerging market) peers in the past two weeks and a period of consolidation was warranted,” said Andre Botha of TreasuryONE.
Data showed on Friday that South Africa recorded a budget deficit of 16.41 billion rand in May, compared to a shortfall of 17.13 billion rand in the same month a year earlier.
The country’s trade balance widened to 10.20 billion rand in May from a revised 3.97 billion rand in April, revenue service data showed.
South African private sector credit grew 6.85% year on year in May, while money supply increased 10.30% over the same period, central bank data showed.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, both the blue-chip Top-40 and the broader all-share indices rose around 1.5%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield up 1.5 basis points to 10.510%.
($1 = 18.9645 rand)
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexander Winning, Nellie Peyton, Pooja Desai and David Evans)
