JOHANNESBURG - The South African rand tumbled against a stronger ‍dollar on Friday, ‍as traders weighed the release of monthly economic data ​from the central bank, revenue service agency and National Treasury.

At 1408 GMT, ⁠the rand traded at 15.9850 against the dollar , about 1.5% weaker ⁠than Thursday's ‌close.

The dollar was up 0.5% against a basket of currencies, while gold slumped over 4% on U.S. ⁠President Donald Trump's choice for a new chair of the Federal Reserve.

Trump picked former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to head the U.S. central bank when Jerome Powell's term ends in ⁠May.

Like other risk-sensitive currencies, ​the rand often takes cues from global drivers such as U.S. policy in addition to local ‍factors.

Data from the South African Reserve Bank showed that M3 money supply growth ​last month was 8.16%, down from 8.26% in November. Private sector credit growth for December was 8.74%, well above November's 7.79% and the 7.60% estimated in a Reuters poll.

The National Treasury then published budget balance data that showed South Africa recorded a budget surplus of 38.44 billion rand ($2.40 billion) in December.

South Africa's revenue service agency published data that showed a trade surplus of 23.18 billion rand in December. ⁠Analysts polled by Reuters had expected ‌a surplus of 24.10 billion rand.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index   was last down 4.1%.

South Africa's benchmark 2035 ‌government bond ⁠was weaker, with the yield up 9.5 basis points to 8.06%.