Rand stronger against dollar, focus on Brics summit

The rand rose early on Thursday against a weaker dollar, with focus on the final day of the Brics summit.

At 0647 GMT the rand was 0.32% stronger at 13.20 to the dollar, compared with its New York close of 13.2475.

The dollar trimmed some losses against the yen on Friday after the Bank of Japan conducted a special government bond-buying operation to arrest a rise in long-term yields but still remained slightly weaker down 0.1%.

“Brics remains the key focus for the rand, along with US GDP out later today,” Nedbank analysts said in a morning note.

Analysts expect the rand to trade in the range of 13.10 to 13.40 to the dollar.

Brics leaders meet for the final day of their summit in Johannesburg.

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark paper due in 2026 was down 0.5 basis points to 8.620%.

Stocks opened lower/higher at 0700 GMT, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top 40 Futures index up 0.36%.