South Africa's rand struggles as strong U.S. data buoys dollar

South Africa's rand was still on the back foot against the dollar on Thursday after losses overnight, responding to strong U.S. data that kept alive expectations of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year. In contrast, local data showing a contraction in new vehicle sales pointed to continued strain on Africa's most advanced economy, which has struggled to grow significantly since a 2009 recession. The rand was at 12.2900 to the dollar by 0639 GMT, down 0.33 percent from its New Y