JOHANNESBURG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The South African rand weakened on Thursday as investors maintained a cautious stance ahead of a raft of key economic data releases that include current account, mining and manufacturing figures.
At 0645 GMT, the rand traded at 15.7400 against the dollar, around 0.2% weaker than its previous close.
The rand gained more than 2% against the greenback earlier this week, as fears over the Omicron coronavirus variant eased because of early signs that it has mainly caused mild infections.
But the global mood turned more cautious on Thursday, as focus shifted to the release of U.S. inflation data due on Friday and a Federal Reserve meeting next week.
South Africa's third-quarter current account numbers are due at 0900 GMT on Thursday, October mining figures at 0930 GMT and October manufacturing output data is expected at 1100 GMT.
South Africa's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic this year has been uneven across sectors, with riots in July contributing to an economic contraction in the third quarter.
The government's 2030 government bond also slipped on Thursday, with the yield rising 2 basis points to 9.475%.
Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Source: Reuters