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S. African Rand weakens as growth rate revised

Xinhua, April 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The rand was weaker against major currencies on Wednesday following news that ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) revised South Africa's 2016 growth forecast downwards as the agency said South Africa's economy continued to be weakened by both domestic and global factors.

S&P revised the country's 2016 growth down to 0.8 percent from 1.6 percent it made in November. The 2017 forecast was also brought down to 1.8 percent from 2.1 percent.

The rand reacted negatively. By mid-morning the Rand was trading at R15.1792 to the dollar, down from Tuesday's close of R15.0916.

The rand closed the day at R15.20 to the US dollar.

On Wednesday, the All Share Index went down by 0.08 percent at 51,184.32 at close while the Top 40 was down by 0.06 percent at 45,084.42. The Financials also shaded 1.40 percent closing at 15,078.77.

Barclays Africa Group and Barloworld were amongst the top ten losers. Meanwhile, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed company Oakbay Resources and Energy, which is owned by the wealthy Gupta family, continued to face isolation on Wednesday.

The First National Bank and Barclays Africa Group have stopped providing banking services to the company. Auditing firm KPMG and Sasfin Holdings also terminated their relationship with the company. This follows revelations that the company was having undue influence on the appointment of ministers in president Jacob Zuma's cabinet.

Top ten movers included South32 after 1,067 deals that saw it rising by 7.23 percent to sell at R16.46. Endit