JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand fell about 1% on Thursday against a stronger U.S. dollar as a spate of interest rate hikes by several central banks fuelled worries about global growth.
At 1528 GMT, the rand traded at 18.5000 against the dollar, about 1% weaker than its previous close.
The safe-haven dollar last traded at 102.420 – about 0.4% stronger – against a basket of global currencies.
The rand has fallen this week after making strong gains since the beginning of June, partly because easing power cuts improved investor sentiment.
“The multi-week trend looks like it is over,” said Rand Merchant Bank analysts in a research note.
Like most emerging market currencies, the risk-sensitive rand is susceptible to moves in global drivers such as U.S. economic data and the dollar in the absence of local catalysts.
On the stock market, the Top-40 and the broader all-share index both closed down about 0.7%.
South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was stronger, with the yield down 3 basis points to 10.690%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Bhargav Acharya, Toby Chopra and David Evans)
