[Ferro-Alloys.com] 

  The South African Rand was flat in early trading on Wednesday, breathing after rebounding from a weaker dollar the previous day. At 07:15 GMT, the Rand was at 15.2350 against the US dollar, down 0.1% from the previous session. With no significant local data releases this week, Rand is expected to draw inspiration from global drivers. South Africa's manufacturing output fell 3.5% year-on-year in November, more than expected, with fuel, chemical and furniture companies falling sharply, data showed on Tuesday. However, there was little impact on Rand as these figures only confirm long-term concerns about the health of the industry. Although the RAND rose about 2% on Tuesday, it was still down more than 3% against the US dollar this year as the daily cowid-19 case hit a new high and the gloomy economic outlook dampened market sentiment. Government bonds rose slightly earlier on Wednesday, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 instrument falling 3.5 basis points to 8.765%.

• [Editor:Catherine Ren]