South Africa's rand fell sharply on Tuesday after third quarter economic growth showed a surprise contraction, underlying the weak state of the economy and growing risk of credit downgrades.

Among stocks, retail and fast food firm Taste Holdings plunged 20% after it said group chief executive Dylan Pienaar was stepping down with immediate effect as part of a restructuring plan to exit the food industry and focus on its luxury goods brands.

At 1530 GMT, the rand was 0.76% weaker at 14.6500 per dollar. Most of the losses came after the gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed a 0.6% contraction as mining, manufacturing and agriculture led a broad based slowdown.

Bonds also weakened, with the yield on the benchmark government issue due in 2026 adding 2.5 basis points to 8.475%.

On the bourse, stocks fell as well after the GDP data.

The benchmark JSE Top-40 Index fell 0.64% to 48,299.66 points, while the broader All-Share Index was down 0.6% to 54,485.41 points.