Gayton McKenzie accused of not understanding fashion industry after his meeting with Shein
Fashion designer David Tlale said he doesn’t think Gayton McKenzie understands the complexities of the clothing and textile industry.
At 0740 GMT the rand traded at 17.46 against the dollar, down about 0.2% on Thursday's close of 17.43.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against major peers, climbed 0.6% on Thursday after figures on U.S. economic growth, unemployment claims, durable goods, and wholesale inventories all beat expectations.
Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE, said the global market focus on Friday was on another closely watched U.S. indicator, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, due out later in the day.
The rand largely shrugged off this week's local economic data releases, including a sharper-than-expected rise in inflation producer and an increase in a business cycle indicator that gauges the economic outlook.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Top-40 index was flat. South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond was also little changed, the yield up 1 basis point at 9.15%.
