Rand flat ahead of mining conference and president’s address

The rand was little changed early on Monday after dropping sharply at the end of last week as a US jobs report boosted the dollar.

The rand traded at R18.90 against the dollar.

Market-moving news this week could come from the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference, which opened in Cape Town on Monday, and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday.

The S&P Global South Africa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for January will also be released on Monday.

On the stock market, the Top 40 index and the broader all-share index were down about 0.3% in early trade.

South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker in early deals, with the yield up 1.5 basis points at 9.795%.