South African rand weaker as U.S. jobs data boosts dollar

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, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The South African rand weakened on Friday, eating into the week’s gains as the U.S. dollar was bolstered by much better-than-expected jobs numbers.

At 1500 GMT, the rand traded at 15.4800 against the dollar, around 1.3% weaker than its previous close but still up around 0.8% on last Friday’s closing level.

The dollar (.DXY) turned positive against a basket of currencies as the U.S. economy created far more jobs than predicted in January, raising the chances of a larger Federal Reserve interest rate hike in March. read more

Earlier in the week the rand had been supported by dollar weakness, as hawkish comments by…