Rand holds on to gains in calm early trade

South Africa‘s rand opened firmer on Tuesday, extending gains from the last three sessions as a lull in global trade war fears lifted demand for emerging currencies.

At 06:40 GMT the rand was 0.26% firmer at 13.3850, slightly softer than Monday’s three-week peak of 13.3100.

On Friday the rand closed beneath 13.50 for the first time since June 22, a key inflection point after tumbling to a seven-month low of 14.00 in an emerging market selloff sparked by rising rates in the US and jitters over global growth.

Friday’s slower-than-expected growth in US wages was the catalyst for the correction, and the rand has since pushed through technical resistance at 13.40, with speculators targeting stops at 13.20 this week.

Tuesday’s session is light on local data, with only June business confidence due at 09:30 GMT.

Bonds were flat, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 steady at 8.625%.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange was set to open lower at 07:00 GMT, with the Top 40 futures index down 0.3%.