South African rand closed at its weakest level in 18 months on Friday, extending its slump throughout the day as stocks also crashed amid deepening worries about coronavirus that sent global financial markets into a tailspin.
South African markets suffered added pressure from concerns over a sovereign ratings downgrade by Moody's, the last agency to rate its debt as investment-grade, following this week's budget. At 1537 GMT, the rand traded at 15.6700 per dollar, 1.18% weaker than its close on Thursday. The currency was at its weakest level since September 2018.
The stock market meanwhile lost almost 5%, and government bonds weakened with the yield on the benchmark instrument due in 2026 rising by 26.5 basis points to 8.127%. Hopes that the coronavirus outbreak could be contained in China have vanished this week as infections spread across the globe. This is also what drove the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Top-40 Index down 4.5% to 45,852 points - its lowest level since January last year - and the broader all-share index down the same amount to 51,038 points.
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