JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa's rand fell on Wednesday while a press conference by the African National Congress (ANC) was underway to decide on its future path after the party lost its majority for the first time in last week's election.
At 1144 GMT, the rand traded at 18.93 against the dollar, around 1.1% weaker than its previous close.
"(The) rand is trading very choppy on the back of some headlines we have seen come out from the ANC," said Wichard Cilliers, director and head of market risk at TreasuryONE.
The ANC has been meeting with all interested parties keen to contribute ideas to form a government, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri told a press conference.
"At this point in time the conversation is looking at the government of national unity," Bhengu-Motsiri said, adding the party has held discussions with the business friendly Democratic Alliance and radical left Economic Freedom Fighters, among others.
The ANC's National Executive Committee will hold high-stakes internal discussions on Thursday to deliberate on the options.
The party of liberation hero Nelson Mandela is still the largest but can no longer govern alone. It said it was determined to unite the broadest range of sectors in society as it addressed what it described as the urgent need to move out of the current stalemate.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index last traded around 0.10% higher than its Tuesday close.
South Africa's benchmark 2030 government bond was weaker, with the yield up 5.5 basis points at 10.630%.
(Reporting by Tannur Anders and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
