JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand slipped on Friday, tracking the general weakness in emerging market currencies, with investors jittery ahead of US jobs data due later in the day.
At 1033 GMT, the rand traded at 14.1050 per dollar, 0.95 percent weaker than its overnight close of 13.9725.
TreasuryOne currency dealer Phillip Pearce said the currency was mirroring the general weakness in other emerging markets currencies such as Turkey's lira and Russia's rouble .
"It's an emerging markets story that is happening," Pearce said.
Analysts expect the rand to take further cues from US economic data, including jobs data for October and the Institute for Supply Management's gauge of services sector activity.
"The U.S data releases inevitably provide the catalyst for significant price action," Nedbank analysts wrote in a note.
Government bond also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 was up 14 basis points to 9.18 percent.
On the stock market, the Top-40 index was up 0.53 percent while the broader all-share edged 0.47 percent higher.
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