JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand softened against the dollar on Wednesday, weakened by concerns about the financial stability of its main trading partner Europe after the Cyprus bailout deal.
The rand traded at 9.278 against the dollar at 0642 GMT, about 0.41 percent weaker than Wednesday's 9.2425 close in New York.
"The euro is really struggling to maintain any sort of headway at the moment, the comments that keep coming out of Europe are not good," said Ion de Vleeschauwer, chief dealer at Bidvest Bank in Johannesburg.
"People are still very concerned that what we see happen in Cyprus is going to spill over to the rest of Europe," added De Vleeschauwer.
The rand tends to track the currency of its main trading partner, which has been weighed down by worries that bank depositors and bond holders may be forced to foot the bill in any future rescue deals.
Locally, Thursday will see a release of February credit and money supply, followed by the release of February producer inflation data and trade data.
Government bonds were also slightly weaker, with both yields on the three year bond and the longer-dated 2026 paper inching up one basis point to 5.505 percent and 7.440 percent respectively.
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