South Africa's rand weak on ANC policy plans, stocks set to open lower

Reuters
South African bank notes featuring an image of former South African President Nelson Mandela are displayed at an office in Johannesburg, file. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand hovered near seven-week lows against the dollar in early trade on Thursday after the ruling party proposed at a policy conference to nationalise the central bank and expropriate land without compensation. At 0653 GMT, the rand traded at 13.4350 per dollar, 0.37 percent weaker from its close of 13.3850 on Wednesday. The rand fell 1.6 on Wednesday, hitting its weakest level since May 18, according to Thomson Reuters data after reports that the African National Congress (ANC) had agreed that the central bank should be state-owned. NKC African Economics analysts said in a note the proposed nationalisation of the Reserve Bank "renewed investors' fears that central bank could lose its independence over monetary policy." In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 added 1.5 basis points to 8.875 percent. Stocks were set to open weaker at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index down 0.03 percent. (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Toby Chopra)