JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand reversed earlier gains to hit a four-week low against the dollar on Thursday, weighed down by domestic corporate demand for the greenback in volatile trade.
At 1100 GMT, the rand was trading at 15.0900 per dollar, 0.5 percent weaker from Wednesday's New York close. The unit was at its weakest level since April 8, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"There seems to be talk of corporate bidding that may be related to the Barclays stake that's coming through here. So there could very well be some corporate activity that's driving all of this," ETM Analytics Chief Economist George Glynos said.
"It seems like a fairly significant order is going through."
Barclays said on Thursday it had raised 603 million pounds ($871.46 million) from the sale of a 12.2 percent stake in Barclays Africa Group.
Barclays did not give any details on the investors who took part in the placing, but South Africa's state pension fund Public Investment Corporation (PIC) was in discussions on Wednesday to acquire up to 10.3 million shares.
The rand has also been hit by a general sell-off in riskier assets due to worries about a global economic downturn at a time when South Africa's economy is struggling to grow.
Activity in South Africa's private sector shrank again in April, although at a slower pace than the previous month, as output and new orders fell and companies cut jobs to the greatest extent on record, a survey showed on Thursday.
Investors also began to position themselves for US jobs data on Friday.
NKC African Economics said in a note that the rand could fall further if the jobs data on Friday beat expectations.
A stronger outcome could increase the chances of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates, lending some support to the dollar. On the stock market, the Top-40 index rose 0.43 percent while the broader all-share was up 0.34 percent.
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 was up 3 basis points to 9.215 percent.
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