JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand weakened early on Monday, dragged lower by renewed uncertainty over the signing of a trade agreement between China and the United States.
At 0800 GMT the rand was 0.62% weaker at 14.9420 per dollar, compared with a close of 14.8500 on Friday in New York.
Officials from Beijing and Washington said late last week that a rollback of some tit-for-tat tariffs had been agreed as part of a preliminary deal, but that has yet to be finalised – a delay that has led to risk appetite draining from global markets after initial optimism had lifted demand.
As a result, most emerging market currencies opened on the back foot against a climbing greenback.
Bonds also opened weaker, with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 adding 7 basis points to 8.53%.
