The South African rand fell on Thursday as fading hopes for a US-China trade deal and an unsatisfactory end to the US-North Korea summit subdued demand for emerging market currencies. At 1520 GMT the rand was 0.77 percent weaker at 14.0425 against the US dollar. In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark government paper due in 2026 closed 4 basis points higher at 8.7 percent.
On the stock market, the JSE Top-40 index was off 0.58 percent at 49,667 and the broader All-share index fell 0.58 percent to 56,002. Wal-Mart's Massmart featured on the loser board, falling 6.4 percent to 87.11 rand after posting a 32 percent drop in annual profit.
Stocks ended slightly lower, with Massmart among the biggest decliners after the retailer reported annual earnings down by a third and gave downbeat outlook.