OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 4.30pm.
THE rand moved weaker on Friday, touching a low of R7,06 to the dollar, but retraced some of its losses later in the day.
By late afternoon it was trading at R7,01 to the US currency.
Traders said weak bonds and continued concerns about the situation in Zimbabwe weighed on sentiment.
The all-share finished 0,43% or 33 points up on Friday, despite poor performances by industrial, financial and gold counters.
Financials finished 0,01% or 1 point down, industrials 0,46% or 39 points under and gold shares 0,89% or 9 points weaker.
At 4.15pm gold was trading at $285,10 an ounce on international markets.
“We started off on a weak footing…and it looks like we may have a weak session,” said a senior forex trader on the rands movement.
“The fixed income market is trading weak this morning and there are underlying concerns about Zimbabwe. With two weeks to go to the election, that is likely to continue to be the case,” the trader said.
The Hang-Seng ended 1,53% or 243 points up, and Nikkei 0,84% or 142 weaker. By 4.15pm the Dow Jones was 0,80% or 85 points in positive territory.