(Updates levels, adds quotes, background)
By Stella Mapenzauswa
JOHANNESBURG Oct 8 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand fell
more than 2.3 percent against the dollar to a 3-1/2 year low in
volatile trade on Monday as strikes that have hit output in the
mining sector continued to hurt investor sentiment.
Government bonds tracked the currency, with traders saying
the moves were exaggerated by thin liquidity on a market holiday
in the United States.
Investors have been nervous about the outlook for Africa’s
biggest economy, keeping local assets under pressure as strikes
that began in the platinum mines in August spread to gold and
iron ore. A truckers’ strike is also in its third week.
Friday’s firing of 12,000 wildcat strikers by the world’s
biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum,
wreaked havoc, pushing the rand down 3.2 percent in its biggest
daily loss since early December.
A renewed attack pushed the currency to 8.9950 on Monday,
its weakest since April 2009, according to Reuters data, before
it recovered slightly to 8.9605 by 1038 GMT – still down 1.9
percent from Friday’s close.
“It’s all the local news about strikes. All the negativity
from last week is ongoing,” said Standard Bank trader Jan
Defouw. Trading volumes were thin, adding to the volatility.
The yield on the three-year benchmark rose as much
as 15 basis points at 5.57 percent, the highest it has been in
three weeks, while that for the 2026 soared 28 basis
points to 7.945 percent.
Continued…
