* Sentiment against risk after Bernanke speech
* Bonds weaken on interest rate cut possibility
JOHANNESBURG, June 8 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand
weakened against the dollar on Friday after the U.S. Federal
Reserve disappointed investors by offering no hint of immediate
monetary stimulus, which impacted the currencies of emerging
markets.
The rand weakened 0.27 percent to 8.41 against the
greenback at 0614 GMT from Thursday’s New York close of 8.39.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech on Thursday
left uncertainty over the Fed’s upcoming policy decision at its
June 19-20 meeting and overshadowed an initial positive reaction
in global markets to an earlier Chinese interest rate cut.
“It’s basically just ‘risk off’ (avoiding risk) since
Bernanke spoke yesterday afternoon, the dollar has just
strengthened, it’s not rand specific,” a Johannesburg trader
said.
“It’s just that the euro is off, risk is off, the rand
weakens,” he added.
Yields on South African government benchmark bonds rose as
weaker-than-expected local manufacturing output figures had
dealers factoring in the possibility of interest rate cuts
instead of monetary tightening in Africa’s biggest economy.
Both benchmark bonds added 3 basis points, bringing the 2015
yield to 6.27 percent and the 14-year yield
to 8.30 percent.
(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
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