By Vernon Wessels Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar as prices for gold and platinum, the country’s largest exports, declined. The currency of Africa’s largest economy lost as much as 1 percent to 7.3755 per dollar, from a close yesterday of 7.3610, and was 0.9 percent weaker at 7.3702 as of 12 p.m. in Johannesburg. The rand on Jan. 5 reached 7.2495, its best level since Oct. 16, and today gained as much as 0.3 percent to 7.2863 before falling. “It’s a combination of lower resource prices and some dollar strength across the board,” William Van Rijn, a currency trader at Nedbank Group Ltd., said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg today. A gain to near the best levels versus the dollar since October also “attracted importers” who bought foreign currency to pay for imported goods and services. Gold for immediate delivery declined as much as 0.6 percent to $1,129 an ounce after its climb to a three-week high yesterday prompted investors to sell the metal. Platinum slid 0.6 percent to $1,538.03. The two metals account for about 22 percent of the nation’s exports, according to the Chamber of Mines. South Africa’s benchmark stock index fell for first time in four days, slipping as much as 0.8 percent lower. The rand advanced 28 percent last year, the second-best performer of 26 emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg after Brazil’s real, as near-zero interest rates in the U.S. encouraged investors to borrow in dollars and buy in countries with higher returns. South Africa’s main interest rate of 7 percent compares with 0.25 percent in the U.S. The price of government bonds gained for the first day in four, pushing down the yield on South Africa’s benchmark 13.5 percent security due September 2015 by two basis points to 8.46 percent. The bond’s price increased 9 cents to 122.32 rand. To contact the reporter on this story: Vernon Wessels in Johannesburg at vwessels@bloomberg.net

Source