The South African rand slid today after the government report showed that China’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of this year more than market participants expected.
Chinese gross domestic product grew 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from a year ago. That’s compared to the 8.9 percent increase in the previous quarter and market expectation of 8.4 percent growth. The Standard & Poorâs GSCI Index declined 0.4 percent. The report was negative for all commodity currencies, but it was particularly bad for the rand as China was the biggest importer of South African raw materials in 2011.
USD/ZAR climbed from 7.8620 to 7.9420 as of 15:58 GMT today.
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