South African rand slumps as China fears weigh on mood, stocks rise

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's rand slumped on Monday, tracking a broader decline in emerging market currencies on concerns over the Chinese economy and rising Treasury yields.

At 1621 GMT, the rand traded at 15.0225 against the dollar, around 1pc weaker than its previous close.

The rand has tended to take its cue from global factors in recent weeks, and investors were in a cautious mood as heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande requested a halt in the trading of its shares in Hong Kong pending an announcement about a major transaction.

Some investors are concerned that a collapse at Evergrande could hurt an already fragile Chinese economy and drag on global growth.

A rise in U.S. Treasury yields weighed on most emerging market assets, as the gap between low- and high-risk debt narrowed.

South Africa-focused investors will look to the central bank's Monetary Policy Review on Tuesday afternoon for clues about the interest rate trajectory in Africa's most industrialised economy.

South African rand slips as markets brace for Fed tightening

Otherwise the data calendar this week includes a purchasing managers' index survey and reserves figures.

Shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) started the week with gains, as hospitality and mining stocks pulled the main indices higher.

The FTSE/JSE All-share index rose by 0.74pc to end at 64,129 points and the FTSE/JSE Top-40 companies' index ended up 0.85pc to 57,755 points.

Hotel chains City Lodge and Sun International surged by over 13pc and 8pc, respectively, after a weekend news report said Britain was planning to drop South Africa from its "red list" of countries requiring arrivals to quarantine in a government-designated hotel.

A mining index rose over 2.5pc, supported by higher gold prices.

"The large diversified miners such as BHP, Anglo American, Glencore are all up strongly as it seems that there is a switch from high-growth tech stocks to inflation hedges such as commodities," said Roy Topol, portfolio manager at Cratos Asset Management.