At 1520 GMT, the rand traded at 14.7779 against the dollar, 0.84% weaker than its previous close.
The rand has been on a flimsier footing all week amid growing anticipation the U.S. Fed could soon start tapering its monetary stimulus, a sentiment bolstered by statements from Fed officials and strong U.S. jobs data.
While this was tamed on Wednesday after data showed U.S. consumer inflation cooled in July, helping the rand, on Thursday fresh data showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment fell again last week and that producer price inflation rose far more than expected in July.
That again bolstered expectations that the United States could taper its bond buying programme and raise interest rates, pushing up the dollar.
Riskier currencies such as the rand thrive on U.S. interest rates staying low because they benefit from the rate differential that increases their appeal for so-called carry trade, in which investors borrow in a low-yielding currency to invest in higher-yielding assets.
Government bonds firmed, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 instrument dropping 3 basis points to 8.935%.
Stocks, meanwhile fell with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Top-40 Index losing 0.33% to 63,277 points and the broader All-Share Index sliding 0.31% to stand at 69,402 points.
Gold producers were among the biggest losers on the blue-chip index, hurt by a dip in the gold price.
Lender Nedbank also closed 4.37% lower after an undisclosed seller sold around 4% worth of its stock via a blocktrade run by Goldman Sachs.
By contrast, Africa's largest mobile operator MTN led the index higher, closing up 4.12% after announcing it would exit Syria immediately and not pursue its bid for an Ethiopian telecoms license.
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Emma Rumney; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Mark Heinrich)
