Rand weakens on political jitters

THE RAND fell yesterday amid political jitters as the state power company reinstated its former chief executive, who had resigned after being implicated in a report by the anti-graft watchdog into alleged influence-peddling.

At 5.15pm, the rand traded at R13.3850 to dollar, down from its New York close of R13.3650 on Thursday. The currency had weak- ened to R13.4825 earlier in the session.

NKC African Economics analysts said in a note that news that Brian Molefe would return next week as chief executive of power utility Eskom had hit the local currency.

Molefe stepped down last November following a report by the Public Protector that raised questions over coal deals between Eskom and a firm controlled by the Gupta family.

Meanwhile, on the bourse, the benchmark JSE Top40 index fell 0.12 percent to 47 430.43 points, while the all share index dipped 0.09 percent to 54 063.34 points.

local shares lost 5.09 percent to R108.34 after the Swiss-listed luxury goods firm’s full year profit dropped. – Reuters

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