Double blow for the rand

The South African rand extended declines against the dollar on Friday amid concerns about an escalating global trade war and instability in the country’s ruling alliance.

The currency weakened past R19 per greenback for the first time since January, extending a slide fueled by President Donald Trump’s announcement this week of aggressive tariffs.

The rand is headed for its third straight week of declines against the greenback. It’s poised to drop more than 3% this week, the most since November.

The rand slumped to its weakest levels in almost two years against the euro and to a record low on a closing basis versus the British pound.

Trump’s tariff agenda has sparked fears of an intensifying global trade war. South African stocks also plunged as steep US levies on the country’s exports cloud the outlook for corporate profits and the economy. The FTSE/ JSE Africa Africa All Share Index fell about 3% in Johannesburg.

Precious metals and mining were the biggest drag by index points, while other sectors including telecommunications, personal care, retail and life insurance also took a hit.

Sibanye Stillwater was the worst-performing single stock in the broad index, down 7.35% while Gold Fields fell 5%, contributing the most to the decline and underscoring concerns about how the tariffs will impact precious metals.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s bonds are the worst-performing in emerging markets, with the benchmark at its highest yield levels in more than eight months.