The rand is muted but market optimism remains intact

The rand was little changed on Friday as positive economic data helped outweigh negative sentiment brought by the increasing number of Covid-19 cases globally.

The rand was supported by good employment data released out of the US and China. The US non-farm payroll number showed an increase of 4.8-million jobs added in June, while China’s services purchasing managers’ index grew at the fastest pace in more than 10 years in June. The data gives hope that the global economy might be able to recover soon.