Rand firms on Chinese and PMI data

The rand was firmer on Tuesday, in line with its emerging-market peers, while the dollar dropped to a two-year low as investors consider the US Federal Reserve’s willingness to let inflation rise.

The local currency was on track for its best day in a week, gaining as much as 1.2%, after the US currency extended losses at the start of the new month, trading at its lowest since May 2018. Earlier, Chinese manufacturing data indicated that exports are underpinning a recovery.