Rand weaker vs dollar, eyes on rate verdict

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened against the dollar in choppy trade on Thursday ahead of the central bank's interest rate decision later in the day while stock futures indicated a lower start on the bourse.

Central bank Governor Tito Mboweni will start reading the monetary policy committee (MPC) statement around 1300 GMT after its two-day meeting.

The MPC is seen leaving the repo rate steady at 7.0 percent on concerns about expected big increases in electricity prices.

At 0644 GMT, the rand was trading at 7.4750 against the dollar, 1 percent weaker than Wednesday's New York close of 7.4245. It briefly hit 7.51, its weakest level since October7.

"Today's market action will be centred around the interest rate decision, which we expect to yield a neutral outcome," said Alvise Marino, emerging market strategist at IDEAglobal.

The bank has cut rates by a cumulative 500 basis points since December to help stimulate an economy wallowing in its first recession in 17 years.

The rand touched a 3-week low against the euro and a 5-week low against sterling.

On the bourse, the blue chip Top-40 December futures contract was down 0.92 percent before the start of trade at 0700 GMT.

South Africa's government bonds weakened. The yield on the 2015 bond went up 6.5 basis points to 8.645 percent and that on the 2036 note was 7 basis points higher at 8.875 percent.

"I would imagine (the move) is on the rand and the MPC. There's a slight cheapening as the market is not expecting a cut. The quesiton is whether Mboweni give hints on the next move being some form of a hike on a 12 to 9 month view," said a bond dealer.