The rand was weaker at midday on Monday as manufacturing data released in the morning painted another grim picture of the economy, already in a technical recession. The Absa purchasing managers index (PMI) dropped 4.8 points to 46.7 points in June from 51.5 points in May. A reading under 50 points indicates the manufacturing sector is contracting instead of growing. The deterioration was broad based, with four of the five main subcomponents decreasing. The sharp fall in the manufacturing PMI suggested that the sector struggled towards the end of the second quarter, said Capital Economics analyst John Ashbourne. "But we would caution against reading too much into an indicator that has become increasingly volatile in recent quarters," he said. Ashbourne said available data suggested that the economy had actually strengthened at the start of the second quarter, but it remained fragile. At 11.40am the rand was at R13.181/$ from R13.0733/$, at R14.9994 to the euro from R14.921 and at R17...
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