South African rand steady after factory activity improves

The South African rand was little changed on Thursday after a purchasing managers' index showed that manufacturing activity had improved last month.

At 1518 GMT the rand traded at 18.6200 against the dollar USDZAR, compared with its previous close of 18.6300.

The dollar index DXY was last trading down 0.05% against a basket of currencies.

South Africa's manufacturing sector PMI rose to 54.0 points in April from 49.2 in March, rising above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction, a survey showed.

The improvement in business conditions was largely due to the fact that there were no rolling power cuts for the whole of last month.

South Africa's vehicle sales also improved in April, showing an uptick of 2.2% year-on-year after months of declining figures.

Globally, the next major economic focus will be Friday's U.S. jobs report for April, which could move the dollar.

The rand often takes cues from international drivers like U.S. economic data in the absence of major local data points.

On the stock market, the Top-40 SA40 index and the broader all-share JSE:J203 index were both little changed.

South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond (ZAR2030=) was stronger, with the yield down 4 basis points at 10.635%.