JOHANNESBURG, March 6 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand, stocks and government bonds weakened on Friday as investors fled to safe-haven assets like the U.S. dollar amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
* The conflict between U.S.-Israel and Iran entered aseventh day, showing no signs of slowing down as Israel carriedout heavy strikes on Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut onFriday, attacking infrastructure in Tehran, while Iran struckparts of Tel Aviv. * At 1347 GMT the rand traded at 16.72 against the dollar,0.4% weaker than Thursday's close, in line with most emergingmarket peers. * The greenback was up about 0.2% against a basket ofcurrencies. * "Like many emerging market currencies, the rand has beenweighed down by rising global risk aversion and higher oilprices, which are particularly negative for South Africa as anet energy importer," said Andre Cilliers, currency strategistat TreasuryONE. * Cilliers added that the local unit will likely tradewithin a 16.40 to 16.75 per dollar range in the near term asmarkets await further clarity on both the geopolitical situationand U.S. economic data. * On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index wasdown 2%. * South Africa's benchmark 2035 government bond weakenedsharply, with the yield rising 19.5 basis points to 8.435%. * Next week, domestically focused investors will look to thecountry's statistics agency's release of GDP results, mining andmanufacturing data for clues on the health of the continent'smost industrialised economy.(Reporting by Anathi Madubela and Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
