JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand weakened on Monday as the currency along with fellow emerging markets strained under pressure from a stronger dollar and a dim local economic outlook.
At 1500 GMT the rand had weakened 0.55 percent to 13.6350 per dollar from a close of 13.5600 on Friday in New York.
The dollar index was up 0.6 percent near a 2-month best.
Before recovering slightly the rand slipped to a session low of 13.6600 toward Thursday's 5-month low as the dollar solidified its recent rally after strong manufacturing figures there boosted bets of higher interest rate and higher yields for investors.
Data on Friday showing the South African government recorded a 13 billion rand budget deficit in August following a 92 billion rand shortfall in July stoked fears the country may not avoid deeper credit downgrades, weighing on demand for the rand.
Bonds were also under pressure with the yield on the benchmark paper due in 2026 up 5.5 basis points to 8.615 percent.
On the bourse, stocks ended slightly higher with Naspers adding the most points to the index after brokers at UBS raised their price target on the e-commerce giant's stock. Naspers, Africa's biggest company by value, rose 1.8 percent to 2,973 rand. UBS raised its price target on the stock to 4,644 rand.
Overall, the JSE Top-40 index was up 0.47 percent at 49,609 and the broader All-share index gained 0.36 percent at 55,778.
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