South African assets lose ground in cautious pre-weekend trade
At 0755 GMT, the rand traded at 17.7150 against the dollar , down 0.5% on the day.
It lost about 0.7% on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger U.S. currency and weaker gold price after about a week of gains.
ETM Analytics said the dollar's move higher on Thursday could have triggered "position-squaring ahead of the weekend, where fresh news might break ahead of the Trump administration's tariff deadline" on August 1.
"Investors will not want to hold any significant positions given the U.S. decision-making volatility," the research firm said in a note.
Next week local attention will turn to the South African central bank's interest rate announcement on July 31.
Many traders and analysts expect another rate cut (ZAREPO=ECI), opens new tab after inflation (ZACPIY=ECI), opens new tab edged up only modestly in June, moving just inside the central bank's target range.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Top-40 index (.JTOPI), opens new tab was down 0.9% in early trade. The benchmark 2035 government bond weakened, as the yield rose six basis points to 9.875%.
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