Rand firms as dollar slides, stocks ease

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April 11, 2016 4:41 PM

At 0700 GMT, the rand traded at 14.9155 versus the dollar, 0.4 percent firmer from Friday's New York close.

A South African child holds a 50 rand note in a file photo.

South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar early on Monday as the greenback came under pressure, but the local unit remained vulnerable to domestic political and economic uncertainty.

"Locally the rand remains vulnerable to headlines in the wake of the unfolding of the local political wrangling," Nedbank Capital analysts Mohammed Nalla and Reezwana Sumad said in a note.

"Technically the close below 15.0000 provides some relief, after the dollar failed to consolidate gains of late."

Focus remained on President Jacob Zuma amid calls from civil society and opposition parties for him to step down.

Zuma last week survived an impeachment motion after the Constitutional Court found he breached the law by not heeding a directive to make payments for some of the upgrades to his personal home.

On the stock market, both the Top-40 index and the broader all-share were lower in early trade.

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 was down 1.5 basis points to 9.18 percent.

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