JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand weakened against a broadly stronger U.S. dollar on Thursday after local data showed a rise in producer inflation, a widening budget deficit and a trade deficit.
At 1510 GMT, the rand traded at 18.8850 against the dollar, about 0.7% weaker than its previous close.
The dollar last traded around 0.6% stronger against a basket of global currencies, boosted by month-end demand as investors squared positions for November.
South Africa’s producer inflation quickened to 5.8% year on year in October from 5.1% in September, statistics agency data showed, in line with expectations.
The country’s budget balance data for October showed a deficit of 41.23 billion rand ($2.19 billion), compared to a deficit of 40.57 billion rand in the same month a year earlier.
The South African Revenue Services also published trade balance figures for October, showing a deficit of 12.66 billion rand.
Investors had expected lacklustre figures, said analysts at ETM Analytics.
“On a trade-weighted basis, the ZAR has had a bad week, reflecting the onset of more intense load-shedding and the plethora of negative news headlines, mostly related to dysfunctional SOEs (state-owned enterprises),” ETM said in a research note.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield up 6.5 basis points at 9.980%.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index ended the day about 0.5% higher.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Nellie Peyton, Editing by Bhargav Acharya, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Christina Fincher)
