Johannesburg – The rand was stable against the dollar on Friday but the start of a strike at Anglo American Platinum’s [JSE:AMS] South African operations is likely to drag it lower.

The rand was at R9.9955/$ at 08:55, in line with its close in New York on Thursday.

Labour unrest in the local economy has hurt investor confidence, pushing the rand to four-year lows earlier this year.

The strike over job cuts at Amplats, the world’s top platinum producer, started this morning, a senior Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) official said .

Negotiations in the United States over the budget and increasing the federal debt ceiling will be closely watched by the market and the impasse could limit gains in the rand and government bonds.

US House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday refused to give in to President Barack Obama’s demand for straightforward bills to run the government beyond September 30 and to increase borrowing authority to avoid a historic default.

Government bonds weakened, with the yields on the 2026 and 2015 issues each up 2 basis points at 6.05% and 7.955% respectively.

“In the interim, the market appears to be in no man’s land until clarity is shed on the adjustment, if any, to the US debt ceiling,” Rand Merchant Bank analysts wrote in a note. 

“There may be scope to test higher levels while the uncertainty around the US debt ceiling lingers and diminishes global risk appetite.” Sapa