* Rand weaker on lacklustre Chinese trade data
* Volumes expected to be thin after holiday
JOHANNESBURG Aug 10 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand fell
against the dollar on Friday as weaker-than-expected Chinese
trade data undermined the growth prospects of Africa’s biggest
economy.
At 0658 GMT, the rand was 0.75 percent weaker at 8.1323
against the dollar, after Wednesday’s New York close of 8.08.
Volumes are expected to be thin after a national holiday on
Thursday.
China’s export and import growth came in well below
expectations in July, weighed down by weakness in major trading
partners and lower commodity prices. South Africa relies heavily
on China’s appetite for its resources.
Its economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2012, hit
by a sharp contraction in mining, and a further slowdown in
resource-hungry China could hurt growth in subsequent quarters.
Economists surveyed by Reuters this month trimmed their 2012
growth forecasts to 2.5 percent from a previous projection of
2.8 percent due to economic contagion from the debt crisis in
Europe and a slowdown in China.
“In all, the global environment is not very inspiring for
the rand,” Rand Merchant Bank said in a note.
Government bond yields inched up one basis point to 5.615
percent for the three year bond and 7.39 percent for
the 14-year paper.
(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba; Editing by Ed Cropley)
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