Rand retreats against rebounding greenback, stocks rise

The rand reversed earlier advances to fall one% as the dollar firmed, with the local currency trimming gains partly caused by a raft of measures meant to revive the economy announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Stocks gained ground as global markets rallied on easing concerns over the United States and China trade dispute.

The rand was 0.3% weaker at 14.34 per dollar at 1527 GMT.

The dollar, which is still set for its biggest weekly drop since February, rebounded as investors consolidated positions before the weekend.

The rand had firmed to trade at a session best of 14.20 to the dollar after Ramaphosa announced a multi-billion-dollar stimulus programme.

“The rand is not alone. Many emerging market currencies have given up some ground, the Turkish lira, Russian rouble and Mexican peso on dollar strength,” ETM economist Halen Bothma said.

“The rand has worked hard over the last two days and the stimulus package is nice but is not going to change the economic growth outlook.”

In fixed income bonds were slightly weaker, with the yield on the benchmark government paper due in 2026 at 9.085%.

On the bourse, the top 40 index rose 1.17% to 50 987 points. The broader all share index was 1.09% higher at 57 164 points.

Global markets reached their highest levels in more than six months as investors took the view that the latest exchange of tariffs between the United States and China may be less damaging than initially feared.

On the downside, food distributor Bid Corporation fell 3.07% after it said the prospective buyer for its UK logistics business is no longer interested in buying it, citing internal reasons.