South Africa’s Rand Steadies After Slipping to 7-Month Low

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand steadied early on Thursday after slipping to a seven-month low the previous day amid broad-based dollar gains.

At 0625 GMT, the rand traded at 13.8625 per dollar, not far off its New York close of 13.8550 on Wednesday.

The rand slipped to 13.9375 on Wednesday, its weakest since Nov. 27.

The dollar was steady against its peers on Thursday, amid conflicting signals from Washington on a proposal to restrict Chinese investment as the bitter U.S.-China trade row kept financial markets on edge.

“Trade war fears and uncertainty around migration in Germany / Europe continue to be the main drivers of geopolitical tensions,” Nedbank analysts said in a note.

They added: “From here look for a possible pull back towards 13.74/76 but 14.00 seems to be well in the sights now and break through their targets 14.15/20.”

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark paper due in 2026 was up 3.5 basis points to 8.935 percent.

(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; editing by John Stonestreet)