The South African rand experienced a decline on Thursday as preliminary election results indicated that the African National Congress (ANC) might fail to secure a majority.
This outcome could lead to a period of instability as the ANC seeks to form a coalition with smaller parties.
By 07:16 GMT, the rand was trading at 18.6525 against the US dollar, reflecting a decrease of over 1% from its previous close. In comparison, the dollar was last seen trading around 0.1% weaker against a collection of global currencies.
Vote counting commenced on Thursday after South Africans participated in the most fiercely contested election since the end of apartheid on Wednesday.
The ANC is projected to obtain approximately 42% of the national vote, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which shared this information with the public broadcaster on Thursday.
At 07:16 GMT, about 11.37% of the votes had been counted. As the vote counting progresses, the markets are expected to gain a clearer understanding of the election’s outcome.
Early trading saw South Africa’s benchmark 2030 government bond weaken, with the yield increasing by 17 basis points to 10.695%.
