South African rand weakens ahead of mining, manufacturing data

South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar in early trade on Thursday, ahead of mining and manufacturing figures which will be released later in the day. At 0757 GMT, the rand traded at 18.6400 against the dollar, about 0.4 per cent weaker than its previous close.

The dollar was last trading up about 0.15 per cent against a basket of global currencies. Statistics South Africa will publish gold and mining output and manufacturing production figures for January on Thursday, which could provide a local driver to the currency.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was down about 0.4 per cent. The benchmark 2030 government bond fell, the yield rising 4 basis points to 10.25 per cent.