South African rand weakens on hawkish Fed; stocks slip

(Reuters) -South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar on Friday as Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell's comments suggested the U.S. central bank will keep raising interest rates to tame inflation.

At 1531 GMT, the rand traded at 16.8175 against the dollar, down 0.58% from its previous close.

In the absence of major domestic economic data, the rand is set to take its cue from global drivers.

Speaking at the Jackson Hole central banking conference in Wyoming, Jerome Powell struck a hawkish tone, as was widely expected, and said that the Fed's overarching focus is to bring inflation back down to its target of 2%.

He gave no indication of how high interest rates might rise. Officials are expected to approve either a 50- or 75-basis-point rate increase at the Fed's upcoming Sept. 20-21 policy meeting.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the Top-40 index dropped 0.28%, while the broader all-share closed down 0.24%.

The government's benchmark 2030 bond was barely unchanged, with the yield at 10.190%.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Anait Miridzhanian in GdanskEditing by Kirsten Donovan)